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

To: bananawind who wrote (22966)	2/16/1999 1:19:00 PM
From: bananawind	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 152472

Lots of good quotes from the show... VIEWPOINT By Tracy Ford I guess there is no use longing for yesterdays when wireless trade shows were somewhat sane. Today's conventions are full of new twists as last-minute press conferences are called to announce deals signed at 3 a.m. the previous day, and phones that were supposed to be introduced aren't (a Sony handset). As if there isn't enough going on within the industry to keep people hopping, we get added surprises from Mother Nature and corporate America—two environs beyond anyone's control. At PCS '98, convention-goers had to deal with the threat of Hurricane Georges. At Wireless '99, it was the all-too-true American Airlines slowdown. Somehow it only makes sense to have a trade show at the same time and in the same city where they organize a parade to show off animals dressed like people and people dressed like animals ... In the midst of all the chaos, however, trade shows are still pretty fun. Here are just a few of the gems I heard at the show: ‘‘You can do it today, but you'll still be doing it tomorrow.''—Bell Atlantic's Dick Lynch, on wireless Internet browsing. ‘‘The pace of Internet growth is making wireless look like a modest-growth industry.''—John Roth, chief executive officer for Nortel Networks. ‘‘As I recall, Irwin Jacobs called me and said, ‘This is big. You have a new assignment.' ''—John Major, chief executive at Wireless Knowledge, on why he left his position at Qualcomm to start work at the Microsoft-Qualcomm joint venture. ‘‘From this day forward, it's going to be a lot different.''—Motorola Inc.'s Merle Gilmore, on the wireless industry as carriers begin to embrace data applications. ‘‘There are no armored cars in a funeral procession. There are no pockets on a shroud.''—New Orleans taxi driver telling me why I shouldn't save any money. ‘‘Of course, there's always a price in any business...''—Irwin Jacobs, after telling me that Qualcomm is not selling its handset business. ‘‘We think the day will come when people will advertise that the phone also does voice.''—Tom Clarkson III, vice president of sales and marketing at Wireless Knowledge ‘‘I think the industry is lucky to have that Tom Wheeler.''—Woman in the bathroom after Day 2 general session. ‘‘Colly, what did he say?''—Tom Wheeler to Colly Myers, Symbian CEO, after watching a video recording from the previous day when Microsoft's Paul Maritz eluded questions from Wheeler about whether Microsoft would work with the WAP Forum and Symbian. ‘‘We've made it very difficult for our customers to understand wireless.''—AirTouch's Sam Ginn at opening session. ‘‘Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent.''—George Bush imitating Dana Carvey's imitation of George Bush.

To: bananawind who wrote (22966)	2/16/1999 6:50:00 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Ericy doing a Texaco Seems as though Ericy might try going ahead with their VW40, giving a guarantee to buyers that all IPR is taken care of and Ericy will handle any damages claims. They appear to think that if they do sell systems illegally, and Qualcomm challenges them in court and sues for damages, the courts will award damages of "The usual royalty fee which telecommunications companies get for use of patented technology". They should review the legal history of Texaco Incorporated and what happened to them when Texaco adopted a cavalier, presumptuous and somewhat contemptuous approach to the USA legal system. They were taken out behind the wood shed and given a beating which they'll never forget. It seems that Ericy are hoping to defer decisions on 3G as long as possible, like Saddam just goes on deferring, stonewalling and delaying to the last second. This gives Ericy the longest chance to sell as much GSM as they can, in which they have a good share. As soon as the cdmaOne, cdma2000, WWeb floodgates open, they are going to be just one in a crowd. If Ericy gives the fingers to the legal system and abuses patented technology and USA property rights, they might find that Qualcomm is awarded full damages in the amount of the amount Q! had been requiring for royalties in the first place, together with a penalty amount of Texaco proportions. It could be VERY ugly for Ericy. Meanwhile, Sam Ginn thinks maybe an ASIC can handle variable chip rates. Maybe it can, but it looks suspiciously like a clumsy way to achieve 3G, with the main aim to lever Q! royalties down. Unless Ericy has demonstrated improved efficiency with their 3.84 chip rate, there is no reason other than royalty reduction from Vodafone's point of view to include the higher chip rate. Being one of the biggest cdmaOne users, backward compatibility will be good for Vodafone/Airtouch. Backward compatibility will also enable them to roll out cdmaOne networks now, rather than wait for 3G to be ready in 3.84 chip rates. Maybe multi chip rate ASICs can be produced [within 10%]. Maybe they will take years. Nokia hasn't done very well so far. It's all such fun! Mqurice