Qualcomm has a tradition of investing in manufacturers, in areas where it can push its chips into a new product category. Last year it injected funds into Alcatel-Lucent and will be rewarded by seeing its silicon in ALU’s small cells. On a smaller scale, Qualcomm was part of a $14m funding round for FON, the pioneer of the Wi-Fi ‘homespot’, earlier this year, and its chips will power the start-up’s upcoming Gramofon ‘social music router’. The original FON product provides a home Wi-Fi router that leaves some capacity unsecured. If subscribers agree to open up that channel to nearby users in need of connectivity, they receive various incentives such as lower bills. Operators like BT, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom have…