US wireless technology firm Qualcomm Inc and NASDAQ-listed China TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology Ltd have formed a joint venture to develop software for mobile phones.

The venture will involve an investment of US$35 million from Qualcomm and TechFaith, one of the largest handset software providers and design houses in China.

The committed investment is "subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, as well as the achievement of performance milestones," the two firms said.

The new company, TechFaith Software China Ltd (TechSoft), will be based in Beijing and Hangzhou, a city near Shanghai.

Operating as an independent entity, TechSoft will initially focus on 3G (third generation) mobile phones, which offer higher speeds of data transfer and support bandwidth-hungry applications such as mobile Internet access and video calls.

Qualcomm said the investment in TechSoft follows its announcement in June 2003 to invest up to US$100 million in small and medium-sized Chinese companies working on CDMA-based products, applications and services.

CDMA, or code division multiple access, is a global mobile telecommunications standard. Qualcomm is a pioneer of CDMA.

In April 2004, Qualcomm announced it would invest in TechFaith, which became the US firm's first independent handset design house partner in China.

"Qualcomm is firmly committed to investing in the Chinese wireless industry, an area of tremendous growth and opportunity, to serve global wireless markets," said Sanjay K. Jha, president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.

Dong Defu, chairman and chief executive officer of TechFaith, said the forming of TechSoft reinforces TechFaith's "international focus with the goal of providing continually improved mobile handset solutions."

TechFaith serves many international mobile phone makers and most of China's leading vendors.

Source: China Daily