Hillcrest coupled with the recent signings of H and Apple have Zte under serious pressure. LG is in the same boat. I tried to go back and research past sales for both companies and it looks llke they are about equal on the liability scale. LG has paid 285 million to IDCC and probably feels like it owes nothing until the bigger players pass them in royalty payments. Lte has no such argument, a current finding of infringement and a real chance of punitive damages if they decide to ride and lose. I look for Lte to cave, but I would not give the Hillcrest deal all of the credit. I am hoping that Pegatron decides to step into the game under their own brand. I will miss their quarterly contributions. The past CC's goal was to justify the Apple and Hillcrest events. It has not worked out too well so far. A Zte settlement will go a long way in plugging the hole in the boat. We definitely need to provide revenue growth. OLED produced 1.02 in annual EPS and received an 80 to 1 multiple. Compare to IDCC and it boggles the mind. When the Apple was announced, I expected a possible adjustment in multiples. I did not do anything because I hoped for more announcements before earnings. They did not happen. I was not expecting the slaughter we ultimately witnessed. If we do sign new licenses, I hope the company begins giving more guidance on percentage increase of revenue year over year. We simply must throw the perception of a Value play off of our backs. We are sitting right in the middle of the next wireless boom with explosive growth around the world.
MO
loop
PS The jury found infringement against Zte based on the claims construction provided by the CAFC and adopted by the judge. We also provided live testimony from the inventor at trial. The CAFC will have to reverse its own claim construction for Zte to prevail. If I was Zte, I am not sure I would take the risk.
