Rockwell to Enter Cellular Phone Market : Telecommunications: The Newport Beach division plans to manufacture components of units that use digital technology.

Rockwell International Corp., which is probably best known for its aerospace and automotive products, said Monday that it is getting into the cellular telephone business.

The company said it plans to start manufacturing the integrated circuit components and other innards of a new generation of cellular telephones that use digital technology.

Digital cellular phones, which are coming onto the market now, hold the promise of clearer-sounding mobile communication, the ability to stymie eavesdropping and the capability to more easily transmit data from computers. During the past year, Rockwell has had nearly 30 engineers designing the units that will be manufactured starting this summer and could be in stores by this fall, said Lanny Ross, president of the Rockwell telecommunications business segment in Newport Beach. Most of the assembly is done at the company’s plant in the border town of Mexicali.

Rockwell is entering the market at the perfect time, he said, because the new technology will be a quantum step forward in the cellular telephone business. So far there are no clear competitors, although he said he expects companies like AT&T; and Motorola to market their own digital telephone systems.

“We expect this to be the beginning of a $100-million revenue stream within three or four years,” he said. It also could mark another victory as the company continues its diversification by making more consumer goods. Rockwell stock closed Monday at $31.25, up $1.25, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Ross said the computer chips designed by Rockwell use less power, are smaller, operate in either a conventional analog or digital capacity and give higher performance. Rockwell will make most of the inside of the phones--everything except the power supply and the plastic housings.