During its annual investor meeting, Broadcom announced Thursday that it would provide sample LTE chips its top cell phone customers in 2013 in an effort to keep up with rival Qualcomm. Bob Rango, general manager of Broadcom’s wireless division, delivered the LTE plan announcement.
According to a Reuters article, Broadcom Chief Executive Scott McGregor would not provide details as to when commercial smartphones using its chips would be available, but he included LTE in a list of “signposts” investors should look for in the coming year.
Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy phones already support LTE, and Broadcom supplies those two companies with chips for short-range connectivity such as Wi-Fi, but an LTE chip would help increase the revenue generated from each phone.
Broadcom has also recently announced three new processors targeted for new 3G Android smartphones, including a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor with HSPA+ capabilities.
[...] The debut of the BCM43341 comes less than a week after Broadcom told investors it will supply its top-paying customers with sample LTE chips throughout 2013. [...]