LONDON – Will Strauss, president of market research firm Forward Concepts (Phoenix, Arizona) and its lead analyst, has advised Intel Corp. to buy, rather than make, CMDA communications technology. Strauss has proposed Via Telecom Inc. of San Diego as a suitable acquisition target.

As Intel acquires Infineon's GSM/EDGE/WCDMA/HSPA (and LTE) cellular chip business, CDMA is the missing link and if Intel does not develop or acquire this technology it would leave Qualcomm Inc. as the only company that can supply chips for high-end handsets that serve the largest American market, Strauss observed in a newsletter.

Intel can either invest a few hundred million dollars and at least two years developing its own CDMA capability or acquire an independent vendor of such chips.

Strauss states that Via Telecom (San Diego, Calif.), a subsidiary of x86 processor vendor Via Technologies Inc. (Taipei, Taiwan), sis shipping CDMA chips in volume primarily for use in handsets in China and India, although also offered by Sprint in the United States. The company claims to also have CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A chips.

Strauss said Intel could easily make an offer that would attract Via's attention, although the company might be as much interested in improved x86 licensing terms as it is in cash for its subsidiary.