Spreadtrum's (SPRD) Hot Performance Continues On

Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq:SPRD) took it to the market in their latest quarterly earnings report, even as Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq:MRVL) was heading in the opposite direction.

The slow move towards cheaper smartphones is costing Marvell, as they lost a large amount of business when Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) decided to move in that direction last quarter.

A disappointing report by Marvell Technology Group put some more weight on the mobile market's burden. But radio-chip specialist Spreadtrum Communications looks as good as can be, jumping briefly to all-time highs and 12.1% gains on a fantastic fourth-quarter report.

The comparison to Marvell is a perhaps little unfair. as Marvell is only just looking to move downstream into cheaper handsets, and Spreadtrum is a giant in the TD-SCDMA chips used in China.

Citing execution and an improved cost structure, CFO Shannon Gao presented 200% year-over-year revenue growth and guided to another record-sales quarter coming right up. Sales of mobile radio chips more than quadrupled, albeit at dramatically lower unit prices.

That's the market environment into which Marvell, Qualcomm (Nasdaq:QCOM), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), and other American chip wranglers are dying to make inroads. The promise of the world's largest consumer market overrides price-war fears.

Spreadtrum closed Friday at $23.07, gaining $1.45, or 6.71 percent.




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