Major Android Makers Likely to Add Iridium-Enabled Coverage: Analyst

The addressable smartphone market for Iridium's Qualcomm Snapdragon Satellite partnership (see 2301050061) includes China, and Samsung, and Chinese Android original equipment manufacturers Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Lenovo are likely to adopt QSS in their premium brands, William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma wrote investors Wednesday. QSS partnerships could be announced at February's Mobile World Congress conference, he said. The Samsung Galaxy S23 likely won't have the new chip, but it should be ready for the S24, he said. Iridium's third constellation could cost less than the $3 billion spent on its 66-satellite NEXT constellation, with the spending for that likely being 2030-2037, he said.