olddog967,
Hillcrest is a small player in the sensor market as your previous posts indicate. If I understand what the CEO stated about the Hillcrest acquisition it had to do with adding negotiating power with some of the unlicensed mobile venders that IDCC has been chasing. Also combining IDCC’s and Hillcrest’s strengths to come up with the next “great thing” in wireless sensor technology. JMHO
Some coments from Q1: 04-10-17 Earnings Summary
On the licensing front, we have an active dialogue ongoing with the remaining key unlicensed companies, including LG, Lenovo, ZTE and Xaiomi. We remain patient in our approach, understanding that each of these customers faces different challenges within their respective businesses. So talk to our customers about a wide range of options including the transfer of patents, joint research and access to our technology platform in the light of some of the discussions greatly enhanced by our acquisition of Hillcrest Labs.
Snip
Our pro forma operating expenses for the quarter were up a little bit on a year-over-year basis. This increase was expected due to our December 2016 acquisition of Hillcrest Labs. Of note, we recognized a tax benefit of $11.8 million in the first quarter associated with the vesting of share-based compensation.
Bill Merritt
Sure. So I would sort of break it into three pieces, right. So there is the Hillcrest organic brand that they were operating on. So they continue to have solid customer discussions. They have got engagements with LG, Samsung and others on that. So that process continues.
The second piece is where that process intersects with our customer base. So for the reasons that, the other reason we acquired it, is in addition to having their own set of customers, some of their customers overlap with ours and it gives us a broader set of tools when we are talking with some of the unlicensed parties in terms of other things that we can do together. And that has been a very productive dialogue going on with folks in terms of trying to create a more bundled solution.
And then the third piece is, when you mention it, it's now talking about where the two organizations can go to get together, particularly from a technology development standpoint. Sensors and sensor fusion is a very critical part of the go forward technology landscape. There is a lot of intersection with wireless and all that. And so we are involved in a strategic planning process with them now to come up with the next great thing that Hillcrest can do leveraging its capabilities, but also integrating our strengths into that as well. So, so far it's doing exactly what we want it to do. So we hope that to be the continuing process with them.
