DigiTimes citing “market sources” reported on Monday that Qualcomm and Apple are in talks with an “interest in future cooperation”.

Qualcomm who supplies GSM and 3G chips to companies such as Samsung, LG and HTC is becoming increasingly concerned about its future in the high-end handset market according to the report by DigiTimes. Currently the iPhone uses an Infineon chip whilst Palm uses Marvell for the Pre and RIM uses Freescale for the Blackberry.

Past rumours have suggested that Qualcomm could be manufacturing a “hybrid” chip aimed at the iPhone capable of being compatible with GSM carriers as well as CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless in the U.S. Qualcomm first manufactured chips capable of switching between GSM and CDMA in 2002.

Rumours have also suggested that Verizon is bidding to have the iPhone on its network sometime in 2010, which would require the iPhone to be able to connect to the CDMA technology which Verizon uses.