Steven - I also would not necessarily disparage the language in the 10-K--it probably means just what it says--but may not say all we would like it to say. As Jon keenly observes, MOT and LU sales of ASICs "...to licensees is interesting. If those sales of MOT's own ASICs may be made only to licensees (whose? Q's or MOT's?), maybe Q gets a royalty on the back door.
There is a major disconnect here. The question has always been whether MOT will pay royalties when it sells an ASIC. I do not believe that anyone was claiming that Qualcomm wouldn't collect any royalties from anywhere in the manufacturing chain when MOT sells an ASIC. Certainly I was not. Legally the only people who can make CDMA products for sale are Qualcomm licensees (or risk an infringement suit) and thus all MOT ASIC sales must be to licensees. This is a given, but that is equally true of all ASIC manufacturers. Thus, when DSP sells an ASIC, Qualcomm collects both an ASIC royalty and a later handset royalty, but (if MOT were not paying royalties on its ASIC sales) when MOT sells an ASIC, Qualcomm collects only the latter portion.
Again, the discussion that I was having (perhaps unknowingly just with myself<g>) is about whether it is better for Qualcomm if DSP/VLSI/LSI sells an ASIC, or MOT sells an ASIC; it was never about Qualcomm getting no royalties anywhere in the chain when MOT sells an ASIC. Having said that, I will state, for the record, that I strongly suspect all things are fine in that Qualcomm will get more or less the same royalties from Motorola ASIC's (if Gregg says it is so, it is so).
Finally, to say the 10K is not misleading in that case (MOT really does pay ASIC royalties) is IMO, incorrect. They have, by their wording, divided ASIC manufacturers very clearly into two groups: those that pay royalties, and those not in the first group but can still make ASICs for external sale (i.e. MOT and LU). If MOT really does pay ASIC royalties when it sells externally that is definitely a misleading grouping.
Clark
PS Now that this subject has been beaten into hamburger, I'm done. I don't need paste<g>. |
