| Shares of chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG surged more than 10 percent Wednesday after the company said it was selected by Nokia to supply chips for some of its mobile phones, a boost for the company's production and prospects. Munich-based Infineon said its "integrated single-chip E GOLD voice" platform will be used by the world's largest mobile phone maker in a selection of its upcoming slate of low-cost phones aimed at entry-level market buyers. Shares of Infineon rose 10.7 percent to euro11.96 (US$15.53) on news of the deal, the details of which were not released. The decision by Nokia lifted pressure from Infineon, which had been hampered after its biggest customer, BenQ Mobile, went into bankruptcy last year. The Nokia deal means the company is back on track, UBS analyst Jonathan Dutton wrote in a research note. He said it is likely Infineon could build on the momentum and strike similar deals with other mobile phone makers in the coming months. "Nokia aims to further improve the power performance in our entry-level phones and reduce their size," said Soren Petersen, senior vice president of Nokia's Entry Business unit. "Adding Infineon's single-chip solution to Nokia's portfolio of chipset suppliers helps us ensure access to optimized solutions for this important market." Infineon is one of Europe's biggest producers of the chips that are used to make computers run, expand memory and help other products from phones to automobiles work. |
