Qualcomm Could Spin Off One or More Units,
President Says
By Scott Lanman
Qualcomm Could Spin Off One or More Units, President Says
San Diego, March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc., which
developed the digital cell-phone technology now used by more than
50 million people, could spin off one or more of its businesses,
President Richard Sulpizio said.
He declined to be more specific, though he noted that
Qualcomm's OmniTracs business, which tracks fleets for trucking
companies, and Eudora e-mail software unit operate separately from
the company's cell-phone chip and technology-licensing units.
``It's always an option,' Sulpizio said in an interview
after the company's annual shareholder meeting at Copley Symphony
Hall in San Diego.
He said Qualcomm has no plans to sell any divisions, though
the company is examining ways to boost its flagship code division
multiple access technology business and increase profit through
options including acquisitions, alliances and spinoffs.
``We think the (divisions) we have today are core to our
future,' he said.
At the meeting, Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer Anthony
Thornley disclosed that Japan's Kyocera Corp. paid $235 million in
cash for Qualcomm's phone-making business last month. Qualcomm
previously declined to say what Kyocera paid for the money-losing
unit, which had revenue of about $1.4 billion in the fiscal year
ended last September.
Shares of San Diego-based Qualcomm fell 5 1/4 to 128.
China Contract
Chief Executive Irwin Jacobs said he's optimistic that use of
the company's wireless technology will expand in China this year,
even though reports have said political issues have delayed work
on a major contract.
There's ``no question' Chinese companies will adopt
Qualcomm's CDMA technology in the long term, Jacobs said in an
interview. The company formed an agreement last month with China
Unicom, the country's No. 2 telecommunications company.
Analysts have said Qualcomm may be a victim of waning
political support in the U.S. for China's bid to join the World
Trade Organization, even as pressure mounts for China and the
European Union to reach their own WTO pact.
Qualcomm executives said they still haven't received any
official word that anything in the agreement with China Unicom has
changed.
``We've got people over there trying to understand what is
happening,' Jacobs said. ``There have to be some answers over the
next two weeks.'
Jacobs received a standing ovation from about 1,200 attendees
when he walked onstage this morning. Qualcomm's share price rose
27-fold last year, making it the best performing stock in the
Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The shares have fallen 27 percent in
2000.
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