Qualcomm Inc yesterday said it has been licensing its patents almost at the same rates since the licensing program started three decades ago to help introduce innovative technologies, defending its role in recent competition probes around the globe.
Qualcomm, which supplies chips to Apple Inc’s iPhone series and handsets from Taiwan’s HTC Corp (宏達電) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), made the comments as it faces a slew of probes launched by global competition watchdogs over concerns that the US company’s licensing practices might hamper market competition.
Qualcomm settled one case with the Chinese government about 18 months ago by slashing licensing fees by 35 percent for Chinese firms and other companies that sell goods containing Qualcomm’s chips. Qualcomm also agreed to pay a fine of US$975 million imposed by Chinese authorities.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
Even so, Qualcomm is “not a monopoly,” Qualcomm chief legal officer Donald Rosenberg told a small group of reporters from Taiwan at the company’s headquarters in San Diego, California, on Wednesday. “Our general royalty rates have not changed from when we started to now. We haven’t raised them, even though we added to that portfolio of patents by thousands of thousands.”
“When we charge our license, it will be fair, reasonable and non-discriminate. We have done that for 30 years,” Rosenberg said.
The royalty terms that Qualcomm mostly uses today are based on the company’s negotiation outcome dating back to 1992 with then-industry giants Motorola and AT&T, said Fabian Gonell, a senior vice president of Qualcomm’s counsel division.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
Since then, Qualcomm has been charging 5 percent of the selling price of a complete device, or mobile phone, Gonell said.
Taiwan’s Fair Trade commission in December last year opened an investigation into Qualcomm’s patent licensing practices as the regulator was concerned about whether Qualcomm “hampers market competition by abusing its dominance,” commission spokesman Chiu Yung-ho (邱永和) said by telephone yesterday.
Chiu said the commission has requested Qualcomm to submit related information for clarification, adding that the probe is large in scale and will take time to collect sufficient information to make a ruling.
“We believe that our licensing practices are fair and they are good not just for Qualcomm, but for the entire industry,” Gonell said.
“In Taiwan, we don’t know what the key issues are, or what the fair commission is interested in... We are still in the early stage,” Gonell said.
However, Gonell rejected reports that South Korean and Taiwanese authorities have requested Qualcomm to change its royalty model basing on chip prices, rather than the price of a complete device.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
TARIFF CONCERNS: The chipmaker cited global uncertainty from US tariffs and a weakening economic outlook, but said its Singapore expansion remains on track Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), a foundry service provider specializing in producing power management and display driver chips, yesterday withdrew its full-year revenue projection of moderate growth for this year, as escalating US tariff tensions raised uncertainty and concern about a potential economic recession. The Hsinchu-based chipmaker in February said revenues this year would grow mildly from last year based on improving supply chain inventory levels and market demand. At the time, it also anticipated gradual quarter revenue growth. However, the US’ sweeping tariff policy has upended the industry’s supply chains and weakened economic prospects for the world economy, it said. “Now
RSS