Re: QC's last throw of the dice maybe?
Samsung's SoC doesn't include CDMA, that's why you see Qualcomm SoCs in Samsung phones designed for North America and other markets where CDMA 3G is in use. That's also why iPhones used the Intel modem only on phones sold for AT&T/T-mobile (GSM carriers in the US) and not Verizon/Sprint (CDMA carriers)
Google may be designing their own SoC, but if it is used for smartphones (I don't think that's what they're intending) they will need a modem. They don't have people to design a modem (Intel has over a thousand engineers working on theirs, it is not a small effort to undertake!) so theirs will definitely not include one.
Thus they'd be like Apple and need to buy a separate modem. The only one who sells a discrete modem (other than Intel, who lacks CDMA) is Qualcomm. Rumor has it Qualcomm refuses to sell their modems without their full SoC to Android smartphone vendors. However, since it will take a few years for them to get an SoC designed and manufactured, maybe by the time they do they won't have to worry about CDMA and can go with Intel's LTE only modem even on CDMA carriers.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
