HTC: We will not adopt mobile chips from Samsung

An iFixit teardown of HTC’s Evo 4G reveals a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. HTC denied jumping ship to adopt Samsung-manufactured chips.

Recently, there has been talk of Taiwanese handset maker HTC adopting mobile processors from Samsung in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs and royalty fees, the move that would be called a major blow to HTC’s current chip supplier, Qualcomm. Responding to the rumors, HTC denied the reporting, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reports.

Having procured memory products and display panels from Samsung, HTC is unlikely to add procurement of mobile processors to heavily rely on Samsung, the sources analyzed. In addition, adoption of Samsung’s mobile processors would not help decrease royalty payments because HTC still has to pay royalty to owners of patents concerned, such as Qualcomm, Nokia and Microsoft, the sources pointed out.

The source also noted that HTC “has adopted ST-Ericsson’s U8500 platform for entry- to mid-level smartphone models to be launched in the first half of 2012”. HTC is paying an estimated $5 per each Android handset sold as part of their patent protection agreement with Microsoft. Obviously, the company knows better than to become trapped with a sole supplier like Samsung…

Look at what happened to Apple, Samsung’s biggest buyer of various components, including custom-designed A4/A5 processors for iPhones, iPods and iPads and NAND flash chips for computers and mobile gadgets. Following increased competition from Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet and Galaxy S smartphone families, Apple and Samsung become frenemies. The California gadget maker is now suing “copyist” Samsung and reportedly taking its billions of dollars in orders elsewhere, including next-generation A6 processor manufacturing to TSMC.