Nokia partnered with US semiconductor company Broadcom to create custom chipsets for its 5G radio products, building on earlier agreements with Marvell Technology Group and Intel in a bid to diversify its supply chain and accelerate a realignment of its silicon strategy.

Its work with Broadcom involves combining its ASIC products with Nokia’s wireless technology to produce tailored SoCs for the vendor’s ReefShark silicon. Nokia said the move will help it further expand its chipset offerings, while also improving system and power performance.

Tommi Uitto, Nokia’s president of Mobile Networks, said in a statement the collaboration highlights Nokia’s commitment to developing its ReefShark portfolio and will help ensure “our 5G solutions deliver a best-in-class performance to our customers”.

The move comes as Nokia looks to speed a transition from using pricier field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to custom silicon in its 5G products. It inked its first custom chipset deal with Marvell in March and quickly added Intel.

In April, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said the company ended Q1 with custom chipsets in 17 per cent of its 5G products and aims to reach more than 35 per cent by the end of 2020.

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