MediaG3 (MDGC)

[Fishing at Surfside]

Licensing can be pricey :)


WiMax Co Beceem Loses Profitability Despite Strong 1Q Sales


By Christopher Zinsli, Of DOW JONES VENTUREWIRE

Beceem Communications Inc.'s first-quarter revenue soared as adoption of WiMax technology spread, but the company fell back into the red after its first profitable quarter in part because of a software licensing agreement, it said Friday in a regulatory filing.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company, which filed for an initial public offering in April, said revenue more than quadrupled in the first quarter of 2010 to $ 19.6 million from the year before, driven by a 700% increase in the number of wireless chipsets sold.

However, Beceem said it paid $9.5 million in March to license software and intellectual property from an unidentified third party, increasing its first- quarter loss to $12.1 million. Losses in the first quarter of 2009 were $5.9 million, but the company reached profitability in the fourth quarter on revenue of $20.9 million.

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