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

To: tero kuittinen who wrote (22474)	2/4/1999 1:15:00 PM
From: DaveMG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

You right about one tin man...Korean grocers have not a tin ta do wit da sitcheashun..

To: tero kuittinen who wrote (22474)	2/4/1999 1:43:00 PM
From: Michael Allard	Respond to of 152472

Tero - you finally found a negative Qcom point of view and your back. Well... welcome back anyway. You said: "Koreans are unhappy with Qualcomm - is it really all their fault? Or could they actually have a point?" Of course they could have a point. That is the nature of a dispute. It would be wrong on our part to accept either side as right or wrong without understanding the details of the dispute. Of course understanding this, you go on to take the Korean side... The basis of the dispute is a contract in which QCOM pays 20% of royalties received back to the Koreans for equipment used in cellular 800 Mhz systems. The Koreans believe the original intent of the agreement included PCS or 1900 Mhz systems as well, QCOM does not agree. QCOM says the intent was to specifically exclude PCS systems. Now, who is right and who is wrong? It will clearly be up to someone else to decide. Unless any of us were part of the original negotiation there is no way we can add any value to the resolution to the dispute. You then say: " I think it is relevant that Koreans are dramatically boosting their GSM equipment sales. Would they really do that if they believed that IS-95 is the hottest ticket to success in the telecom field?" The Koreans will supply whatever the customers want. You should not be so surprised that there are still some operators ordering GSM equipment (although the rest of us may be..) You then say: "I'm sorry, but as the lawsuits against Qualcomm keep piling up ..." Let's calculate. Zero additional lawsuits added to the one that already exists equals the one that already exists. Did I add wrong? The pile has not changed heights. You then say: "But purely from a strategic point of view, it's sometimes sensible to make concessions and accept some lost fights than aim to win every individual fight and lose the battle. Qualcomm really needs the Koreans. Slugging it out with them in a court of law isn't going to consolidate the alliance." I agree with you here. None of us can predict what the resolution will be, or wether the alliance will be strengthened or weakened as a result of yet to be defined settlement. I hope QCOM does not alienate the Koreans too much, and at the same time, I do not what QCOM to give away they store. I, for one, have faith in the management I have invested behind.

To: tero kuittinen who wrote (22474)	2/4/1999 3:05:00 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

Whining about royalties Tero, the Koreans and Motorola were whining that cdmaOne royalties were killing cdmaOne. They claimed that cdmaOne royalties were set at such extorquerationate levels that it could not succeed. I argued that the levels were a bargain and should have been 12% or 10%, not the derisory 5% or 7% that has been discussed. So it is proving to be. Korea is making a fortune out of the technology. Their economy is booming in the cdmaOne area. It is enhancing the rest of their economy. To whine about the royalty rate is churlish. This also confirms that the worry about Korea early last year was groundless - which seemed obvious to me at the time because cdmaOne, cdma2000 and WWeb are all part of The New Paradigm which many also deny. But they'll realize in a few years, that just as Korea wasn't going to stop buying cdmaOne because of some financial mismanagement and speculative property construction along with a speculative asset overvaluation, so The New Paradigm is roaring like a Taniwha [a mythical New Zealand dragon thingey]. Michael Allard clearly pointed out the mistakes in your post - so take those as read. But reiterating, there is a frequency dispute on cdmaOne royalties. We've been over this about a year ago. From what I could gather, the Koreans don't have substance to their argument because the frequencies were specified in the original agreement, not the words 'cellular' or 'PCS', as the definitions of when royalties should be paid. Of course they will use all the leverage they can now that they can see the vast riches which they might get if they can renegotiate the contract to include 'PCS frequencies'. Motorola also whined about royalties. If they were so excessive, they could have invented their own, but even with copying and buying Qualcomm technology, they still couldn't develop their own handsets and had to get Pantech to provide a service using Qualcomm ASICs and technology. Qualcomm has undersold the cdmaOne technology as it turns out. But it was so problematic in the early years that it is reasonable that such low royalties were offered. There were market risks, technology risks, financial risks and the wild success of Qualcomm's CDMA was not certain. But now it is certain and as a shareholder, I want to make $ill Gates look like a refugee from the poor house. I didn't carry this risk all these years to give money to unnecessary whining temp workers in San Diego and their apologist on this thread. They should be grateful that people with brains, perseverance and high moral standards have set up such an amazing business in their area and they are able to earn money there instead of at derisory pay rates in a Korean grocery or apple picking job out in the fields. Qualcomm is pumping money from around the world into temp worker's pockets. Like a giant black hole, they are sucking in billions from New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, China, Chile, Russia, Canada and points between. China is so concerned that temp workers in San Diego are getting too much power that they have declared Telecoms a national security issue and they are trying to resolve ownership of China's telecoms so they maintain control in their own country. [No there isn't cdmaOne in NZ,Taiwan or Australia yet, but they are sucking investor's money from those places]. Let's hear more cheering and less whining! Rah! Rah! Rah! Q! Mqurice

To: tero kuittinen who wrote (22474)	2/4/1999 4:12:00 PM
From: Clarksterh	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 152472

Tero - I'm sorry, but as the lawsuits against Qualcomm keep piling up there comes a point where you have to wonder is the company really realizing the benefits of alliance-building and winning over new friends instead of alienating the existing power base. Well, we agree. But keep in mind that other companies have done similar things and succeeded. Microsoft is the most prominent example of a company that was hated by most others in the industry from the get-go and yet they pulled it off. But it is problematic. Decision makers aren't unemotional robots and I've actually seen many executives make decisions not because they were the best ones, but just to screw some company or group they didn't like. Clark PS Although none of us have seen the Korean ETRI contract, lets assume that it does say royalty sharing for Cell band CDMAOne. What would you, as ETRI, do? I'd be pretty pissed off that Qualcomm had snuck one by me. And if I were an in-your-face negotiator I'd probably bluster and sue.