JACOBSEN Irwin

This article I would not called 'success story' but rather 'interesting history'. And it is interesting that the hero of the story has become a company which every year becomes less and less, but it confronts an increasingly complex problems and strives to become a leader in its industry
. Qualcomm: the power of ideas
. In the early 1950's the school teacher Irwin Jacobs said his charge that, if he will link his life to science and technology - he has no future
. Having heeded the advice of teachers, young Jacobs went to college at Cornell Department of Hospitality Management. But today there is no chance to see how Jacobs conducts audits in the halls of the Holiday Inn. Instead, he leads he created in 1985, Qualcomm Inc.
Irwin Jacobs grew up in a modest middle class family. His childhood had on during the Great Depression and World War II. Jacobs inclination towards science manifested itself more in the war period. Then the young man made out of scrap materials for sealing with automatic milk bottles. At the same time began to show his entrepreneurial talents. Jacobs bought the surplus film intended to take military action, chemicals, and for a modest fee pictures of their classmates.
. While studying at Cornell Jacobs did not find anything for themselves attractive in the hotel industry and decided to get serious in electrical engineering
. He moved to the engineering department, and then unlearn 3 years for the same specialty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduation institute offered a teaching position Irwin Electrical. Seven years later, in 1966, Jacobs received an invitation to a teaching position at the University of California San Diego.
Then Jacobs with his wife and four sons went to the West. He bought a piece of land near San Diego, in the village of La Jolla, where he has lived until today. (Land with a view of La Jolla and the Pacific, bought in 1968 for 37 thousand dollars, today worth many millions.
. Resolute Irwin in officers
. It was during this period, in 1969, Jacobs decided to create Linkabit - manufacturing company satellite communication device
. With the advent of Linkabit many linked birth in San Diego influential wireless telecommunications industry.
San Diego - the sixth largest city in the United States. It is inhabited by seamen, retired officers and looking for gay life young. San Diego is not taken seriously engage in civil business. There is constant noise from taking off and landing of military aircraft. But this noise did not stop Jacobs select the San Diego location for your business. Perhaps the roar of jet fighters sweet heart Irwin: it is precisely the contracts with the U.S. forces brought the first profit Linkabit - as well as a lot of money his second venture - Qualcomm. At the beginning of the activities of both companies the bulk of their employees were engineers - former members. A CDMA technology was created in Qualcomm-based wireless technology on the battlefield.
Work 100%
Since its inception, Jacobs is very jealous of the competition. Once, before the staff Linkabit was tasked for 4 days and 3 nights to prepare a demonstrative sample of products for the army. It is clear that the engineers in these few days sleeping less than usual. All but Irwin Jacobs. He knew that the work should be completed by a certain date and did not sleep at all. To this day, whenever confronted with the need to achieve the intended purpose, Jacobs maximum mobilized.
In 1980, Jacobs joined Linkabit with M / A-Com, and after 5 years founded Qualcomm. He had the task: to bring the company and its CDMA technology to the forefront in the field of digital wireless technologies.
Jacobs, who last year celebrated 66 years, has always been more fascinated by the technology rather than marketing. When, in 1985, Irving founded the company, he had no idea of creating a particular product, but he called the firm Qualcomm, combining two words: quality of communication (quality communications).
. Today, a former professor turned to Qualcomm's own gigantic laboratories
. They developed a technology of mobile communication CDMA, which now enjoys 71 million people.
. In 1994, Bill Clinton, who was then president of the United States, Jacobs presented the National Medal of Merit in the development of technology.
. Know your business
. About Qualcomm is sometimes said that this is the most successful company in San Diego ever existed: the company with a turnover of 4 billion
. dollars a year has made thousands of employees and local residents millionaires and billionaire Jacobs. Despite this, Jacobs has always been a man whom few people saw. And although the name of Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering named the University of California at San Diego, . center of the local radio broadcast station, Public Service Broadcasting and theater at the Museum of photography, . the family itself has kept fairly modest and secluded lifestyle.,
. Jacobs remains a mystery even in his hometown
. He can not be a public figure, unlike colleagues Andy Grove, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Despite the fact that Jacobs has the same heights as those magnates of the information age, it barely known outside the world of cellular communications industry. Why poluchaetsyaN On the one hand, I'm sorry San Diego, who until recently a quiet backwater of the world of high technology. However, Jacobs has never been involved in endless meetings and conferences in Silicon Valley. Instead, he stubbornly insisted that CDMA technology from Qualcomm has been adopted as the world's digital wireless standard.
But to completely avoid fame still has not been possible. In 1999, Qualcomm got in sight after the size of its equity capital was the largest on the Nasdaq and the NYSE, this figure increased by 2621%. This is due to the fact that the company earned 420 million. dollars on sales of 3.9 billion. U.S.. Plus, the company was close to achieving its goal of establishing standard. And finally, the wireless industry was just very popular on the market.
. Technology Qualcomm was almost ideal for the wireless Internet: it could be used not only in phones, but also in a variety of mobile devices - laptops, PDAs and automobiles.
. Sam does not praise himself - no one will praise
. Over the past 15 years, Jacobs steadily worked his way, which could decide a few: he boldly entered the competition with the giants of the telecommunications market and has succeeded
. In early 1989, AT & T, Motorola and others worked with the digital standard TDMA (multiple access with time division carrier). Jacobs came and said that its proposed technology is CDMA (multiple access, code division multiplexing) - better. It skips three times more calls than TDMA, and many times more than any analog system. All this was made possible through the distribution of digitized speech data packets. Each of the packages that are 'smeared' across the bandwidth is assigned a unique identifier, and at the other end of the packets re-unite. In this case there is a temporary separation, and all subscribers consistently use the entire width of the channel. This is a very efficient scheme, whose work is similar to the principle of the Internet.
However, a few excellent technology - must be persuaded to use it. And how to do this if your name - not Sony and not AppleN
Qualcomm has already begun preparations for a new phase of struggle, but then very much to change the rules of the game occurred. United States Federal Government auctioned off the new radio frequencies for use by operators of cellular. Thus, the new arrivals (those who bought these frequencies) the opportunity to test technological solutions in comparison. Large and wealthy newcomers like CDMA. The first contract for its use with Qualcomm signed PacTel (who later became AirTouch) - in 1993, then SPRINT and others.
CDMA has become popular in those countries that have just started to build wireless network. Thus, the first commercial system, has implemented CDMA, appeared not in the U.S. and in Hong Kong in 1995. CDMA quickly became the world's third most popular wireless technology after GSM (the dominant standard in Europe) and TDMA (the dominant standard in the U.S.). As of 2000, CDMA had 60 million subscribers, or 13% of world market. More importantly, CDMA has become the most rapidly spread from the three technologies, the number of its subscribers in 1999 increased by 118%.
Jacobs had a lot to advocate for their technology. While studying in college classes of oratory were not his most favorite, but when Irvine had to talk about CDMA, it woke up a great speaker. And in moments like these critics accused the former professor of aggressiveness, propensity to exaggerate, in the unwillingness to compromise.
. Strong, but lightweight
. Qualcomm is the world's largest producer of semiconductor technologies without its own production
. Do not spend billions of dollars to build their own factories, Qualcomm develops chips and negotiates their release from other, mostly with IBM. This Qualcomm differs from AMD, Intel, Motorola, TI and other 'heavyweights'. 'Easy' Qualcomm has allowed us not only to concentrate fully on the development of chips and increase sales and revenue, but also withdraw from the game some of its competitors. Previously, Oki Electric, LG Electronics and Sony have done themselves chips with CDMA technology for their phones, but now they buy ready-made chips from Qualcomm. PochemuN And because only the company itself was able to expand faster than any other set of characteristics of its technology: for example, were added to the possibility of determining the location of subscribers and the transfer of MP3 files.
. Against the background of success in the development of Qualcomm chips the company has survived difficult times of failures in the field of creation of equipment that supports the work of CDMA
. Initially, when Qualcomm was the only company that provides the CDMA, she was herself a mobile network operator to provide all necessary equipment - antennas, switches, base stations and phones. Being not very large, Qualcomm failed to compete with the major handset manufacturers and infrastructure. Then, in 1999, Qualcomm sold production of related equipment Ericsson, factories producing phones - Japanese electronics manufacturer Kyocera. Over the past two years, Qualcomm rid practically from all manufacturing plants and plans to do the same with the unit semiconductor technologies.
Family Tournament
A holy place is never empty. And really stand at the head of a kingdom of dreams to everyone motivated and ambitious person. Now its sovereign seeking the kingdom of wireless. All known manufacturers of technology, . including Qualcomm, . Motorola, . Sun Microsystems, . Nokia, . Microsoft and even a giant in the manufacture of chips - Intel - want to be the world's wireless communications devices in the same, . What is Windows PC: a universal standard for software developers.,

. After all, the creator of this standard will provide a new source of income, even if sales of mobile handsets - the most common today, wireless communication device - will decline.
. In the 1980's with the Microsoft Windows operating system and Intel with its processor line held the primacy of the personal computer market
. The winner in the struggle for the wireless standard could be the next Wintel'om. Odds against large: the market of cell phones more computer.
In the last days of January this year, Qualcomm, the latest of all applicants, joined the struggle for the throne. The company introduced the technology that will allow developers to write programs that can run on cell phones of all known manufacturers. Qualcomm wants to change the current situation, where developers are mainly caused by the program for specific phone models. This is a software platform BREW (binary runtime environment for wireless). BREW allows users of cell phones to receive emergency messages, listen to Internet radio and play online games. Analysts recognize that Qualcomm had been wise, engaged in a game on the market of software for wireless communications devices.
However, Qualcomm is waiting for some tests. The company, known primarily for its chips for the popular digital cellular formats, must convince handset manufacturers, operators and software developers to follow new - mundane - the rules of the game.
. According to the prediction of the Vice-President of Qualcomm Peggy Johnson, . first phones, . supporting BREW, . appear to the end of 2001, . but their wide distribution can hardly be expected until the third generation cellular networks, . that is, within a few years.,
. The first time Qualcomm BREW will supply only with chips CDMA, so that only users of cellular phones CDMA networks have access to new software
. Of course, access to the BREW users can obtain phones and other wireless communications.
Qualcomm plans to patent the BREW and charge developers a fee (the amount of which will not be disclosed) for the creation of applications. Another source of revenue for the company to become wireless operators, who will pay for each user downloaded phone application. (Today, most of the profits Qualcomm brings the sale of its CDMA-chip, as well as royalties from other chip manufacturers that use this technology.)
. There are also software developers for wireless communications devices, who doubt the success of efforts against Qualcomm Sun, seeking to introduce its technology in Java <outfit> Cell Phones
. However, Sun is not only a threat to Qualcomm. Over the leadership struggle, and other, more serious than rivals: Openwave Systems (created by the merger of Phone.com and Software.com), Nokia, Microsoft, Intel, Motorola, in alliance with CollabNet.
. Despite the competition of companies, in some cases, their products are destined to co-exist
. For example, the browser is already part of Openwave software running on CDMA-based chip set running environment BREW.