DoCoMo & Co. to take on Qualcomm

For as long as most of us can remember just about every cell phone we’ve owned has had that familiar Qualcomm sticker on the back.  Well, it looks like cell company DoCoMo and a consortium consisting of Fujitsu, Fujitsu Semiconductor, Samsung, NEC, and Panasonic Mobile are looking to challenge slash dethrone the current mobile phone chip making behemoth.  According to the press release found on their site, they are looking to create:

“…feature-rich, small-size, low-power-consumption semiconductor products equipped with modem functionality.”

Although it’s a completely unexciting, unsexy, Rosie O’Donnell-esque area of the full-fledged battle for the mobile market, it’s also one that’s long overdue for some serious competition.  Bad reception, dropped calls, battery life, and call quality are the last things on our minds while we’re admiring our beautifully crafted rectangles.  Qualcomm has gone unchallenged for as long as I can remember, and since every other aspect of mobiles and smartphones has heated up with serious competition, maybe we’ll benefit from this consortium as well.