Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[stricklybiz]

Reuters Item: "Nokia says patent row to determine wireless future"

[From the article below]"Crucially, however, Qualcomm has only 20 percent of essential W-CDMA patents as opposed to the bulk of all essential CDMA patents, according to a study earlier this year from U.S. academics David Goodman and Robert Meyers."

A Google check revealed only a 2005 Goodman/Meyers study of W-CDMA essential patents. A slide presentation is at
http://dawn.cs.umbc.edu/INFOCOM2005/goodman-sl.pdf. It indicates that there are 732 3GPP (W-CDMA) essential patents and that QCOM owns 279--just fewer than 41.9 percent.

[From the article] "Nokia and Ericsson each own around one quarter of essential W-CDMA patents, the study showed."

The Goodman/Meyers slide shows that Nokia and Ericsson own, respectively, 94 and 129 patents (12.8% and 17.65).

The article says that Reuters received the information in the article from ". . . a senior Nokia executive who declined to be
identified. . . ."

It appears to me that the Reuters article is approximately as factually accurate and as objective as a Broadcom PR regarding a U.S. court's statement that we discussed here in the past coupel of months. That is, it is pure FUD but will probably serve the purpose for which it is intended: To have a short-term adverse effect on QCOM share price.
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Nokia says patent row to determine wireless future
Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:39 AM ET
By Lucas van Grinsven, European Technology Correspondent

AMSTERDAM, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Nokia <NOK1V.HE>, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said the winner of a fight over patents on third generation (3G) mobile telecoms technology would set the conditions for all future wireless standards.

"This will set the ground rules, not just for 3G but also for 4G and beyond," a senior Nokia executive who declined to be identified said at a Nokia World conference on Thursday.

Telecoms equipment companies are designing or making 3G and 4G gear to provide ever faster wireless broadband.

Nokia, Ericsson <ERICb.ST> and other sellers of handsets and network equipment complain that U.S. rival Qualcomm Inc. <QCOM.O> is overcharging for its 3G technology.

At issue is the meaning of "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" (FRAND), a legal concept to which all vendors of mobile technology must adhere when charging royalty payments on patents.

Qualcomm charges a royalty rate of between 4 to 5 percent of the wholesale value of a 3G W-CDMA phone, the same rate it charges for CDMA phones.

Crucially, however, Qualcomm has only 20 percent of essential W-CDMA patents as opposed to the bulk of all essential CDMA patents, according to a study earlier this year from U.S. academics David Goodman and Robert Meyers.

Nokia and Ericsson each own around one quarter of essential W-CDMA patents, the study showed.

It all adds up, and the result is that 3G W-CDMA mobile phones are more expensive than they could be. Estimates vary, but operators, vendors and analysts reckon that up to 25 percent of the wholesale value of the basic 3G W-CDMA phone is made up of royalty charges, said Pyramid Research analyst Ozgur Aytar.

For vendors who own their own 3G patents, that percentage is as high as 10 to 15 percent, she added.

By comparison, royalty rates for second generation GSM handsets are around 8.5 percent for companies that do not own their own 2G patents, according to disclosures from BenQ <2352.TW>.

FIGHTING IT OUT

The dispute has been brought to a U.S. court and also to the European Commission, which will decide in coming weeks whether to start an official investigation. Nokia is hopeful that a picture will begin to emerge of what should be regarded as "fair and reasonable" as early as next year.

The outcome will affect the popularity of 3G phones, which most consumers and telecoms operators currently regard as too expensive.

If Qualcomm manages to hang on to its W-CDMA royalty rates, this may benefit the CDMA market in which Qualcomm is the sole chip supplier and the main beneficiary, according to a study from a graduate at the Dutch Free University, Jeroen Celie.

CDMA is mostly used in the Americas and parts of Asia, where it competes with GSM/W-CDMA networks, which are used in all countries around the world.

Currently CDMA handsets are more expensive than GSM handsets, which are produced at a much larger scale, but that situation may change when third-generation CDMA phones are pitted against identical W-CDMA models with high royalties.

The ruling on W-CDMA royalty rates will also have an impact on forthcoming 4G technologies such as Wimax, which operators hope will have low royalties. Wimax for mobile devices has just been standardised, and the first devices are expected next year.

"There's no dominant holder of (Wimax patents). There are hundreds of holders. The wireless and wireline community believe Wimax will have much lower (royalties). That echoes well with operators," Pyramid's Aytar said.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061130:MTFH67015_2...