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Analyst: Nokia's modem move hints at Intel-Infineon done deal

by Peter Clarke

The move by Nokia to dispose of its wireless modem operations to Renesas has surprised Didier Scemama, head of European Technology Research with Royal Bank of Scotland.

Given that Nokia has been progressively getting out of hardware design the sale itself is not the surprise. But in a note to clients Scemama said that, given the recent close cooperation between Intel and Nokia on chipsets and in efforts such as the MeeGo operating system, Renesas was a surprise buyer and the price of $200 million seems low.

"We thought Intel would have been a natural buyer of this asset. Our view is that either the relationship with Nokia on the chipset side could be terminated — which seems unlikely at this stage — or that Intel plans to acquire another company to give it access to a leading protocol stack. The most obvious candidate remains Infineon," Scemama said. "We wonder why Intel would pass on the opportunity to acquire Nokia's modem capabilities without having signed an agreement to buy Infineon's wireless division — especially at such a modest price."

Intel is rumored to have acquired Comsys Mobile Communication and Signal Processing Ltd. (Herzelia, Israel) for $30 million in late May. However, Comsys expertise seems to be in 2G and WiMax and the purchase may simply show Intel picking up skilled engineers based in Israel. "Comsys' 80 employees will join Intel's major wireless R&D centers in Haifa and Petah Tikva," according to Will Strauss, president of market research firm Forward Concepts, in an e-mail newsletter.

The Nokia deal is a boost for Renesas and also significant for Intel, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, ST-Ericsson and Imagination Technologies Group plc, Scemama said. Renesas is the leading 3G chipset supplier in Japan but has struggled to sell its platforms outside Japan. A long-term deal to work with and supply Nokia, still the world's leading handset supplier, allows Renesas to break out of Japan even as it is strengthening its position there.

The deal is positive for Imagination because it has strong ties to Renesas, but negative for STMicroelectronics, because of increased competition for its ST-Ericsson subsidiary, Scemama said.