The U.S. International Trade Commission has issued a ruling that bans the import of future devices (devices already being sold are exempt) that use a 3G chipset from Qualcomm because these chips violate a Broadcom Corp. patent. The ban includes mobile phones, PDAs and any other devices found to be using the chipset. The patent in question covers a process that kicks in to save battery power when the device cannot pick up any cellular coverage. The ban could affect the import of up to 80 million devices, according to one analyst.
The ban will affect device manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, and Motorola as well as service providers who offer those devices to their customers. For example, up to 80 percent of the devices carried by Verizon could be affected, forcing the company to scramble to come up with alternatives.
Another analyst expects that the ban would not last very long as companies update their mobile phones fairly quickly. They would not need much time to replace the affected chipset with another.
One company that could benefit from this ban is Apple. The iPhone is about to be released and not having 3G capabilities might now work in its favour as other companies scramble to come up with devices that they can import to compete against the iPhone.