UPDATE 1-LG licenses Qualcomm for 4G technology

* LG joins Nokia, Samsung in licensing Qualcomm 4G tech

* Lenovo to sell smartbook with Qualcomm chips

* Flo TV Personal TV going on sale at Best Buy, Amazon.com

* Cautious about holiday demand, more optimistic on 2010 (Adds LG pact, analyst and exec comment, Personal TV detail, byline)

By Sinead Carew

NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) said LG Electronics Co Ltd (066570.KS: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) is one of three major phone makers that agreed to license its 4G high-speed wireless technology, solidifying its position in the mobile market for years.

LG, the No. 3 mobile phone maker, also renewed its agreement for Qualcomm's existing third-generation technology, Qualcomm said at its annual investor meeting on Thursday.

Qualcomm had previously announced that LG's larger rivals Samsung Electronics (005930.KS: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) and Nokia (NOK1V.HE: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) have agreed to pay to use Qualcomm's technology in future products based on fourth-generation (4G) wireless technology.

"This means they have 65 percent of the handset market signed up to long-term royalty agreements," JP Morgan analyst Steven O'Brien said. "We have more certainty in the royalty streams and cash flow streams from the major handset vendors."

However, O'Brien noted that it was not clear what rates these companies agreed to pay Qualcomm as the companies keep the terms of their licensing agreements confidential.

Qualcomm competes with Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) on chips for applications such as mobile Web surfing. Both are looking to smartphones and smaller laptops for growth.

At the meeting, Qualcomm gave a brief glimpse of a mini-computer based on its Snapdragon application chips that Lenovo Group Ltd (0992.HK: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) plans to launch at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The device, which will connect to the Web over AT&T Inc's (T.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) cellular network, will be the first in the so-called smartbook category of small mobile computers.

It looks like a very small laptop computer and will be more powerful than a smartphone but less capable than a netbook.

Qualcomm did not say which operating system the smartbook would run on, but Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt said it is likely powered by Google Inc's (GOOG.O: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) Android software rather than Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) Windows.

"The question is will people pay without having access to any of the Windows applications," he said.

CELLPHONE SURFING

Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs told the meeting that he sees huge growth in mobile Web use on such devices and cited estimates that by 2014, monthly mobile data traffic will exceed the total for the full year 2008.

"Computing is going to be mostly wireless," he said.

Jacobs said he sees huge growth in markets such as China, India and Latin America. In India, Web-connected cellphone use is four times higher than PC use, he said. More growth is expected after India sells airwaves licenses early in 2010.

In the nearer term, Qualcomm is cautious about demand and does not expect a big holiday season, said Chief Financial Officer Bill Keitel. "At this point we're a little more optimistic about the end of 2010," he said. [ID:nWEN6495]

On Friday, Qualcomm will start selling a portable television it developed, branded Personal Television. It is already listed on Best Buy (BBY.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) websites.

The device will cost $249 including six months of service. After that, the service, which runs on Qualcomm's Flo TV network, will cost $8.99 a month.

Qualcomm build its TV broadcast network in an effort to kick-start demand for advanced wireless services. It delivers programming to cellphones but has been slow to take off as operators AT&T and Verizon Wireless (VZ.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート)(VOD.L: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) have not promoted the service much.

Qualcomm has previously said it plans to spin off the TV network eventually, and Jacobs told analysts that this would be unlikely to happen soon.

The company also started providing multi-mode high-speed wireless chips to customers on a trial basis as it looks to cash in on the move to next-generation services. [ID:nN12407318] (Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Gary Hill)