Broadcom developing chipsets to bring 4G to low-cost smartphones

Broadcom is developing chipsets that officials said will make it easier for device makers to bring 4G connectivity to low-cost smartphones. Company officials said the new reference platform, which supports Google’s Android 4.4 “KitKat” mobile operating system, is in development now and will be part of Broadcom’s larger presentation of its mobile technologies during the Mobile World Congress 2014 show Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain. 

This year’s Mobile World Congress will see an LTE that’s more mature than ever, with higher speeds, more device selection and more chip suppliers adding to the range of options for the fast mobile technology. While Qualcomm still dominates the field in LTE smartphone chips, other suppliers are nipping at its heels. Broadcom, a fierce rival just up the freeway from Qualcomm, will put its LTE efforts front and center at the show later this month. It previewed the goods on Monday by announcing what it called a turnkey platform for midpriced or even low-priced smartphones. Broadcom can use the same platform with a dual-core SoC (system on a chip), the M320, and a quad-core design, the M340. It’s already shipping the dual-core product to phone makers in sample quantities, and it plans to sample the quad-core silicon later in the first half of the year.