Replies to post #22254 on InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[ed_ferrari]

OK, I'll take this slow because you don't seem to get it.

In your post http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=968659 you said:

Why wouldn't they make the agreement go out to at least 2008. Do you think GSM, GPRS and EDGE will be extinct by then?

The number of GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks in existence at the end of 2006 is not the issue. The issue is what type of products will be sold at that time. My argument is that at the end of 2006, the vast majority (i.e. 95% or more) of handsets sold that contain GSM/GPRS/EDGE functionality will also contain WCDMA functionality. The other 5% or so that are GSM-only in nature will be ultra low cost types of handsets; hence, the amount of money lost there will be minimal.

If you still don't get it, try this analogy. North America started out with AMPS (i.e. analog or 1G) networks. As IS-95 (i.e. CDMA) and IS-54/136 (i.e. TDMA) networks started popping up, the newer handsets were dual mode in nature, and the number of new AMPS-only handsets dropped. When I moved to San Diego in 1997, I don't remember even seeing any AMPS-only handsets available for purchase. The first CDMA networks appeared in 1995. You do the math...