But what if QUALCOMM's offer is not superior in some relatively small component of the intellectual property, but the buyer figures they might as well suffer the lesser quality because at least it's free?
That harms consumers as they get a lesser product than would be the case if the lesser quality QUALCOMM product was charged its real price instead of having that price bundled, tied and concealed in the one-and-all pricing. Like beauty, lesser is in the eye of the beholder. There are always arguments among the aficionados of various things as to which has true quality and beauty.
That keeps competition out! As long as the valuable and strangling patents are tied to the junk, the consumers will pay and suffer.
Okay, I think I've flogged this to death, though I'm not convinced that we are out of the woods. I'll have to go back to flogging Frezza. He's due for another lashing. Tero too, if I can find him.
I think what QUALCOMM is doing is perfectly reasonable, sensible and fair. "We charge 7% and go on inventing a big bundle of stuff, some good, some not so good, some perhaps outright bad, some is obsolete. If you use any, you pay 7% of your gadget's wholesale price." I'm just trying to see the situation how people with a malign view will see it.
Also, I think the royalty should be 7% [at least]. The price of spectrum shows how much has been left on the table by the air interface inventors! On the other hand, Flarion is looming along with WiFi, WiMax and other stuff, so maybe 100% would be excessive and push competition too quickly. 7% seems about right.
I understand that 7% is the high end for China's exports. 2% is the low end for China's local sales. Most are around 5.5%. Some, such as Motorola, got free royalties for patents up to about 1995, if I remember rightly. Others got various cross-licence deals.
2% royalty for 1.3 billion people is a cheap price! No wonder the Koreans are whining like a fleet of 747s. It makes it tough for them to manufacture in Korea and sell in China. 7% for the other 5 billion people who China might supply balances the 2% reasonably well.
I think China will absolutely crazy on CDMA! They have low production costs, everyone can have one and the streets won't get crowded [unlike everyone buying cars]. They like brain stuff too and talking a lot, so they'll go nuts on cyberphones. They already are.
They can pay 7% royalty for exports and still undercut foreign production. It's a good royalty arrangement.
Mqurice |
