China-based smartphone vendors are likely to continue enjoying the advantage they have gained from the sale of 3G smartphones for pushing sales of 4G LTE models as China-based telecom carriers plans to lower chipset specifications in order to allow local chip suppliers access to the 4G supply chain, according to industry sources.

　　China Mobile originally required chipset vendors to offer TD-LTE chips supporting five modes (LTE/LTE FDD, TD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, and GSM) and also 10 operational frequency bands.

　　Under this requirement, Qualcomm has been able to secure a majority share of TD-LTE chip orders from China Mobile in 2013 as local IC players as well as MediaTek have been excluded from the bidding, said the sources.

　　However, China Mobile's practice has drawn increasing criticism from the industry and has also resulted in an investigation on Qualcomm by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for its possible violation of China's anti-monopoly law, noted the sources.

　　Under increasing pressure, China Mobile reportedly plans to lower its requirements from 5-mode chips to 3-mode parts, allowing more competition in the segment, revealed the sources.

　　The downgrade of chipset specifications will also bring down prices of 4G models, which will benefit local smartphone vendors, added the sources.