ASM
ASM report . Most sparsely attended affair in quite a while; probably more IDCC employees than anyone else. Stock incentive plan passed with 70% of shares in favor.
Harry declared IDCC is in the best shape we’ve ever been. There was a new slide show that they will use in a UBS presentation next week. Samsung signing highlighted 2008 with Harry saying that Samsung saw what we had and paid 400 million. That they are tough to deal with and just don’t give money away.
We had 136 patents granted in 2008 and 608 more applied for putting us at 140th on 2008 PTO list.
The companies initiatives will be in the areas of security, developing a network for networks,and seamless connectivity.
There is a balance of 141.7 million in the company’s coffers which later led to discussion about dividends and value to shareholders. Harry said dividends are under careful scrutiny, that buybacks add shareholder value, and that the company needs to conserve capital in case of acquisitions. Harry mentioned that they have a team that only works on M&A.
2009 objectives are to be getting into anything wireless, not just handhelds, developing “leapfrog” wireless, looking to sign “machine to machine” new entrants. The market is going from people to people connectivity to people to machine or machine to machine.
From the Q and A segment: The Lucas Library approach wasn’t a surprise to them. Nokia said it was available , IDCC says it wasn’t. The issue at the ITC comes down to validity. The Samsung agreement gave clarity to rate discussions with other manufacturers. There were discussions about the matrix complexities and I sensed that $1 per device seems like an acceptable measure. Merritt said future company matrixes would try to make understanding clearer.
He also said items like that Kindle are game changers, a precursor of what’s to come. More data devices than voice. He said that have a disciplined plan for pursuing agreements after 2012. Some negotiations take longer than others.
The company was defensive about the chip production saying that although they didn’t sell much hardware, they made good contacts, got access to other companies road maps, and developed new patents because of it.
Merritt on China: We have good contacts. Our initial move was product based and we have patents there. Enforcement of patents in China is another issue. As Chinese companies start to sell outside of China, then IP deals will get done.
Apple is not a 10%contributer as of the last quarter. Listings are quarterly. Currently the list includes Samsung, NEC, andSharp.
Questions about Nokia not having an operator network to sell their new phone yielded info that some operators tell some manufacters to liscense with IDCC before they will take their phones to sell. The operators don’t want to deal with IDCC. Merritt said technology keeps advancing and is built upon previo0us layers of tech, providing opportunity for IDCC.
Brian Kiernan said that we’re 3=5 years ahead of the market. For instance LTE is coming into fore a s operators build out systems and we’re all over LTE standards.
My overall feeling is one of confidence, a quieter, more solid confidence. As if it’s not a question of success, but only when. This contrasted to the past few years where it seemed euphoric that we made it to the top of the mountain. This year we’ve been on the top of the mountain for a year and it’s old hat, we comfortably belong.
When asked about the trial, BM said that being in the first trial was more advantageous for us than for Nokia watching it. He used the analogy of someone actually driving somewhere as opposed to being a passenger on the same trip. You get a lot more out of it when you’re doing the driving.
I think IDCC felt that they made their case at the ITC. That they were heard.
I’m sure other’s will add to this.
AI
