Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: voop who wrote (62568)	4/12/2007 8:43:18 PM
From: GO*QCOM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197031

UPDATE 2-Qualcomm says Nokia may be in 'material breach' Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:37 PM ET (Adds details, executive quotes, stock moves, background) By Sinead Carew NEW YORK, April 12 (Reuters) - Chip supplier Qualcomm Inc. <QCOM.O> on Thursday accused Nokia of either misleading the industry or materially breaching their license agreement, the latest volley in an increasingly bitter public quarrel over patent royalties. San Diego-based Qualcomm also said it rejected as insufficient a $20 million payment from Nokia <NOK1V.HE> <NOK.N>. The two companies failed to reach a new agreement after their patent license pact expired on Monday. They are battling over how much Nokia should pay Qualcomm in royalties for use of high-speed wireless technology. Nokia said earlier Thursday it paid aggregate technology license fees of less than 3 percent of total sales for high-speed wireless phones until 2007. Qualcomm responded that if Nokia's statement was accurate, it meant the phone maker had "seriously underpaid royalties owed to Qualcomm." "Qualcomm will address this potential breach through legal and contractual channels," the company said in a statement. A Qualcomm executive said the company would talk directly to Nokia but did not yet have enough information to decide how to proceed. "I don't want to speculate on what we may or may not do at this point, especially at a time it's not clear to us we have all of the facts to make a decision." Derek Aberle, general manager of licensing at Qualcomm told Reuters. Some analysts say Qualcomm has the most to lose in the dispute. It has said earnings could fall by 4 cents to 6 cents per share in the second quarter if Nokia refused to pay the amount of royalties the chipmaker expected. Nokia said last week that it believed the $20 million fee to Qualcomm would cover its use of the patents for the second quarter -- a figure analysts estimated was one-tenth to one-fifth of what it would have paid under the expired agreement. Qualcomm described the $20 million as a fraction of what it was owed, and Aberle said the company has returned the check. "It came with about three pages of dense conditions we would have had to accept if we wanted to keep it," he said. Qualcomm has asked arbitrators to weigh in on the debate, which centers on WCDMA, a high-speed wireless technology that is becoming popular around the world. Nokia says it has developed technology of its own since their previous licensing agreement, and now seeks royalty payments from Qualcomm, which Nokia says uses many of its patented technologies. But Aberle said that their agreement had obligated Nokia not assert its patents against Qualcomm chips. Nokia said it has a fully paid up license covering Qualcomm's early patents as of April 9. and those patents are licensed to Nokia royalty-free in perpetuity. "Therefore Nokia's licensing agreements with Qualcomm for the future will focus only on the terms for Qualcomm's newer patents," Nokia said. Both companies said their talks were ongoing, but Qualcomm said they were not any closer to an agreement. "This has no impact on our day-to-day business," Nokia spokeswoman Anne Eckert said. Qualcomm shares closed up 50 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $42.60 on Nasdaq, while Nokia's U.S. shares finished up 10 cents at $23.48 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando in New York and Tarmo Virki in Helsinki) yahoo.reuters.com