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In the days of yore, people picked up a telephone (you remember actually talking over the telephone?) and simply made a call by entering a phone number on the touchtone pad and voila — a telephonic connection began. With the development of the first mobile networks and phones, phone calling became portable, and basic texting emerged (anyone else remember texting using the “T9” approach?).
As mobile technologies and computing powered evolved, and their costs curves matured as the cost of transmission and storage of data continually fell, mobile phones gained new capabilities which in turn spurred demand for more advanced capabilities and services. In July 2008 Apple (AAPL) debuted its 3G iPhone and the iPhone App Store, and it’s fair to say we haven’t looked back as these devices and apps have increasingly become an integral part of our daily lives as we text, video chat, shop, send pictures, bank, and just about any/everything else.
5G will not only expand the market for RF semiconductor companies, but it will open up new markets for companies seeking to monetize their wireless IP patent portfolio.
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke is often quoted as saying “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” To make all the “magic” of modern telecommunication a reality requires not only mobile networks and devices but also all of the chips that make them work and provide connectivity. Underneath it all, companies have made enormous investments in developing and manufacturing core wireless communications technologies and when we dig deep enough, we find that at the heart of this mobile disruption is a series of technological innovations in wireless technology standards.
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