Thinner phones will be based on Infineon's Smarti RF chip

Samsung has signed a deal to put Infineon chips into its Edge series of mobile phones in an effort to cut their size.

Infineon's Smarti PM CMOS RF chip will cut the board space used in the handsets, according to Samsung, as well as reducing the overall number of components.

"The Smarti PM chip reduces component count in a complete GPRS and Edge radio by 30 per cent, requiring 50 per cent less board space for the RF portion of the phone than competing solutions," said a Samsung spokesman.

Chris Taylor, director of RF and wireless components at Strategy Analytics, added: "Infineon has established itself as a top Edge transceiver supplier and, with the Smarti PM fabricated in its 0.13 micron C11 CMOS process, we believe it is about six months ahead of its nearest Edge competitors.

"The market for Edge mobile phones will double from 160 million in 2006 to more than 320 million in 2010 at an annual growth rate of 15 per cent."

Stefan Wolff, vice president and general manager at Infineon's RF engine business unit, said: "Infineon is enabling handset manufacturers to design smaller, more feature-rich handsets with increasing levels of functionality."

Samsung's Edge series phones will be launched in the second half of 2006.