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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: waitwatchwander who wrote (146903)	12/9/2006 10:10:56 AM
From: quartersawyer	Respond to of 152472

IEEE addressing FRAND Academic standards at IEEE could use a bit of revision as well, since they were the venue for the presentation of the Goodman and Myers infommercial. Patent pools go way back...and the issues go well beyond Qualcomm. It's all new rules being defined on the fly. This IEEE April '07 change in disclosure is a good one aimed at patent ambush, and will have no effect on Qualcomm or Q's business plan since new patents are licensed continuously under the standard rate for almost all current and future licensees, which conforms in advance with the revision. Case in point is the Airgo acquisition, which takes Airgo patents into the satndard Qualcomm rate at no additional cost to licensees of chipsets integrating the developing the 802.11n fast WiFi standard. Again, Qualcomm's business plan is not only unaffected, but works to positive effect, hand in hand with the proposed IEEE revision. benhorseman linked this yesterday on the other thread. theregister.co.uk Here's some snips: ...of course, any progress by Qualcomm to increase its patents influence among the IEEE standards, signaling its determination to replicate its 3G position in other emerging wireless markets, raises further speculation about what will be its next steps in the other key IEEE platform, WiMAX. Will it continue to pursue its own course, promoting its Flarion/802.20/FLO OFDM-based technologies as an alternative to 802.16, or will it seek an acquisition that will give it a Trojan horse to storm the enemy citadel and a leg up in its almost inevitable move to support WiMAX in its silicon in future? For Airgo, the acquisition gives the MIMO pioneer the chance to remain relevant in a sector that it led, but where it has been in danger of being sidelined by Intel and others. Like Flarion, it is a company with genuinely innovative technology and IPR, which took the gamble of trying to 'do a Qualcomm' and set new industry standards itself, rather than harmonizing with the giants’ efforts. To date, Airgo, largely no doubt smarting from being sidelined by Intel, has been highly critical of the over-egged claims of some of its rivals to support draft standards that are not finalized, and, as we have seen, has held back from supporting drafts in advance. Now it seems to be placing itself in the firing line just as its new parentage will, once again, make it a target for the attacks of the WLan chip majors, Intel, Broadcom and Atheros. Airgo may well help Qualcomm join those ranks, or at least line up with TI on the integrated multi-radio front, but that will not be achieved by unrealistic claims, but by the usual Qualcomm route, genuinely strong technology, sharp marketing and acute politics.