BSW .. Sure sign we are on WS's radar screen now. This is what many of us have been waiting for. The emperor's wardrobe is about to get thouroughly checked out. Those who think his closet will come up empty or nearly so had better have the courage of their convictions and sell now because there is no longer any place to hide. Those who believe that the examination will reveal a closet that is full of finery that has been accurately described as such by management and our sell side analysts had best trust their judgment and buy some more or hold on to what you have because they are beginning to roust up some sleeping investors out there with deep pockets.
Skeptics point out that Nokia paid $31.5 million in royalties to InterDigital between 1999 and 2001, so an increase to $200 million during the next four years, when the licenses expire, seems steep...........
..............Similarly, Samsung Electronics paid $17 million in royalties from 1996 to 2001, making it seem unlikely to bears that it would be willing to pay the $70 million during the next four years that InterDigital anticipates it "could" receive
Samsung joined the BCDMA alliance in 1996 when its global market share was limited to 2G CDMA. Since then its global market share has increased 5x.
Nokia settled with IDCC in 1999 while it was nearly doubling its 1997 market share in a global wireless market that was increasing its installed base by 5x.
Put simply, Nokia and Samsung combined shipped 24M handsets in 1997. Last year Nokia and Samsung combined shipped 188M handsets.
Global Annual Nokia Samsung Ericsson Subscriber Handset Market Market Market YEAR Base Sales Share Share Share . 1997 200M 115M 19% ~2% 20% 2002 1.1B 408M 36% 10% 6%* 2004** 1.5B 505M ? ? ? . *50/50 joint venture - Sony/Ericsson . **Piper Jaffrey forecast