Samsung, DoCoMo reportedly close to mobile chip joint venture

Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo is planning to make a move into mobile chipsets, with the carrier said to be close to sealing a joint venture with Samsung, Panasonic, Fujitsu and NEC, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Rumours originally arose in September but, this time around, sources have provided more specific details. Talks between partners are said to be close to completion, with DoCoMo set to take a majority stake in the venture to develop mobile chipsets, which is slated to be set up by March 2012.
The move will be a significant one, as it will offer Samsung — which has seen record sales in 2011 — a new option for the chipsets to, as sources claim, “reduce dependence on Qualcomm”. Currently the Korean maker uses a range of suppliers, but chiefly Qualcomm, whose licensing charges have been the subject of litigation and controversy in the past.
When the joint venture is up and running, Samsung, Panasonic (which is planning a smartphone comeback) and others, will be able to lean on a new vendor for technology, or use it to attempt to drive down the price of chips and technology from Qualcomm and others.
However, as a dedicated chipset specialist, Qualcomm has developed a range of industry leading technology, which the new JV will need to compete with in order to gain market share outside of its partners.
DoCoMo is being tipped to make an imment announcement on the subject, so we hope to have more details very soon.

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Galaxy Nexus his NTT DoCoMo in Japan on December 2nd

Yes, America, everyone gets the Galaxy Nexus before you. The latest is the Japanese market, where Samsung will release the phone into the open arms of carrier NTT DoCoMo. The Galaxy Nexus lands in the land of the rising sun gets it on December 2nd, this Friday. DoCoMo gets the GSM version that’s currently on sale in Europe, but there’s no mention of a price just yet.

Those of you not-so-patiently waiting for the U.S. release will note that Verizon’s rumored pre-order has resolutely failed to appear, after reports that it would begin today supposedly came from a customer support representative. You may send your complaints to Computer World, care of Richi Jennings, who claimed a second-hand conversation with customer support as a “confirmation”. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.
So when will the Galaxy Nexus actually release in the United States? Your guess is as good as ours at this point. The latest rumored date is December the 8th, next Thursday, but since every previous date has come and gone, I wouldn’t necessarily give that one any more credence than the others.

"What is this, Verizon? A phone for everyone but us?"

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