Israeli Startup's Formula for Breaking Into Mobile: Forget the IPhone

An Israeli startup thinks it can do a better job than Intel, Broadcom and other chipmakers hundreds of times its size at loosening Qualcomm's stranglehold over wireless-data chips. Because Altair Semiconductor isn't obsessed with securing a deal for Apple's iPhone or another mobile giant's flagship smartphone, it just might have a shot.

The company, based outside Tel Aviv, sells chips that only work on the latest mobile-data networks using technology called 4G long-term evolution (LTE). By just targeting the high-end networks, Altair avoids the expenses of designing complex chips that must operate on all of the other existing cellular standards and paying patent royalties to competitors such as Qualcomm. And that allows Altair to sell its chips at a lower price.