Qualcomm vs. Verizon

3:20 PM -- Have you noticed that Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) and Verizon Wireless are giving two fairly different time-frames for when Long Term Evolution (LTE) phones will be commercially available?

Verizon has consistently said that it will have LTE-capable phones in the first half of 2011. While Qualcomm is expecting LTE smartphones on the market towards the end of next year. (See Qualcomm Plots 1.5GHz Tablet Processor and CTIA 2010: The LTE Smartphone Scramble.)

The discrepancy may be because Qualcomm is using its own chipsets as the baseline, while Verizon is sourcing phones from vendors like Samsung Corp. for LTE. Samsung seems to have got ahead of the curve on LTE phone chipset development. It is promising its first LTE handset -- the "Craft" -- sometime this month in the US. (See MetroPCS LTE Net May Launch in September.)

Nonetheless, it will be worth watching to see how the LTE device roadmap shapes up in 2011. These schedules have a habit of slipping, as we saw with Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR) and Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S)'s early talk about WiMax phones. (See CTIA: Clearwire Talks Android & More.) — Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile