Qualcomm recorded at least $ 4.5 billion in settlement with Apple

The semiconductor and telecommunications equipment maker Qualcomm announced on Wednesday that it would win between the billion euros and the US government a one-time payment of between 4.5 and $ 4.7 billion, announced the New York Times.

Last month, Qualcomm and Apple ended a long-standing patent and antitrust case that began when Apple sued the other company for unfair patent licensing practices for $ 1 billion and degenerate when Qualcomm initiated a $ 7 billion counterfeit action. Qualcomm emerged as the apparent winner, signing a six-year license agreement and a chip supply contract, as well as the massive single payment (although the company was also prevented from providing chips for a range of over 50 years). # 39; iPhones).

This multi-billion dollar payment is a big problem for Qualcomm: the company estimated in its quarterly profit report that it expected to receive a total of $ 4.7 billion to $ 5.5 billion in ordinary revenue, before payment is taken into account, during the next quarter. However, the company also said that its legal war chest was not necessarily an immediate game changer, even though the deal positions it as Apple's only 5G modems provider after Intel's withdrawal from the market. The Times reported that Qualcomm's 2011 third quarter forecast, which was in the slightly lower range than analysts' expectations of $ 5.29 billion, "suggested that Apple's licensing rights would not substantially increase revenues because Apple was catching up on royalties that it had not paid so quarrel. "

According to the Wall Street Journal, Qualcomm is planning a lull until the deployment of 5G reaches a steady pace:

Qualcomm estimated that it would carry between 150 million and 170 million [its cellular phone system-on-chips] in the third quarter, a decrease of almost 25% compared to the same period of the previous year. Analysts expected nearly 180 million shipments of chips for the period, according to a FactSet survey.

In their conversation with analysts, Qualcomm executives blamed the weaker outlook for China's economic weakness and the slower-than-expected rollout of next-generation wireless technology. They indicated, however, that the introduction of 5G networks was now taking place quickly after a pause and that this would strengthen Qualcomm's overall business in the future.

The paper added that the resolution of the Apple-Qualcomm battle means that Qualcomm is less threatened by the courts banning its business model: "combine an arm that produces and sells advanced mobile-phone chips to another that earns money." Money by selling access to its intellectual property "-But remains nonetheless open to a lawsuit pending before the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether its usual to refuse to provide chips to customers not possessing any patent license gives him an undue power over the control of transactions. The Journal wrote that "a decision could be taken at any time".

[New York Times/Wall Street Journal]