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Technology Stocks : The New Qualcomm - a S&P500 company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (2504)	10/19/1999 10:33:00 AM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13582

An excerpt from an article....confirms termination of DSP's CDMA license. Also uncertain is how an Intel/DSPC tandem would affect the CDMA market. In the mid-1990s, San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. licensed CDMA chipset technology to four companies: DSPC, LSI Logic Corp., PrairieComm Inc., and VLSI Technology Inc. A Qualcomm spokeswoman confirmed that, in effect, Intel's acquisition would result in the termination of DSPC's CDMA license. "The licensing agreement does not automatically transfer to Intel," the spokeswoman said, noting that the company must now negotiate a new license. Once that happens, she said, "We would be happy to have Intel in the CDMA chipset market." The situation is similar to Qualcomm's decision to terminate its arrangement with VLSI Technology shortly after the company was acquired by Philips Electronics NV last June. Qualcomm and Philips/VLSI are renegotiating the terms of the CDMA agreement, but no deal has been reached. If it were to sever ties with DSPC-and with its two other licensees that do not have products in the market-Qualcomm could be left as the sole source of CDMA chips in a market expected to grow from 8.7 million units in 1997 to 69 million units in 2002, according to Dataquest. Such a disruption to DSPC's supply base could leave CDMA chipset customers like Denso Wireless Communications and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. in limbo. techweb.com

To: Tomas who wrote (2504)	10/19/1999 3:40:00 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13582

I didn't hear that part of it, but do know that RCA felt threatened by the FM technology and deliberately built FM radios that "drifted" in order to discourage people from switching to the new technology. My source was an uncle who practiced communications law in Washington, DC from the 1930's - 60's.

To: Tomas who wrote (2504)	10/19/1999 5:12:00 PM
From: John Inine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13582

For those interested in learning more about this story, I recommend Ken Burns' documentary "Empire of the Air". It's available from PBS video. It follows the careers of Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, Edwin Armstrong, the brilliant inventor (Superhetrodyne, FM) and David Sarnoff, the ruthless head of RCA. It's a cautionary tale of how the big money interests can squash the little guy. I'm sure this sounds familiar to QCOM investors. RCA litigated over Armstrong's patents for decades. Only years after his death, when RCA lost, was his widow paid any royalties. DeForest and Sarnoff won some measure of public acclaim for their role in the radio industry. Edwin H. Armstrong is well known among electrical engineers, but not to the general public. That's a shame.