Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of chips used in mobile phones, said a push into new markets such as automotive and connected devices bolstered sales in the second quarter, helping relieve concerns that growth will be hurt by legal challenges in its licensing business.
[...] Qualcomm's net income in the fiscal second quarter, which ended March 26, fell to $749 million, or 50 cents a share. Excluding certain items, profit was $1.34 a share, compared with an average estimate of $1.19. Adjusted sales gained 8 percent to $5.99 billion. Analysts had predicted revenue of $5.87 billion.
[...] The results help validate Mollenkopf's decision to acquire NXP Semiconductor Inc. for $47 billion -- the biggest purchase in the company's history, due to close later this year -- to ease Qualcomm's reliance on the smartphone market. The semiconductor maker said its licensing business, which generates the majority of profit, didn't receive full royalty payments associated with phones sold by Apple Inc., which is suing Qualcomm, claiming the company abused its position to create a monopoly in chips. Qualcomm has countersued.
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Qualcomm accuses Apple of helping Intel with chip software
The patent licensing battle between Apple and Qualcomm keeps getting more heated. Wednesday, Qualcomm filed another lawsuit against Apple, this time alleging Apple shared confidential Qualcomm software information with its chip rival, Intel. The breach of contract lawsuit said Qualcomm gave Apple "unprecedented access to Qualcomm's very valuable and highly confidential software, including source code." In return, Apple agreed to take steps to keep the software confidential and secure. But Qualcomm said instead it found that Apple shared information with Intel.
In one instance, Apple requested confidential software information from Qualcomm and cc'd an Intel engineer on the message, Qualcomm said.
Qualcomm wants a court to declare Apple breached the agreement and award damages, among other demands. "As the direct and proximate result of Apple's conduct, Qualcomm has suffered significant damages in an amount to be proven at trial," the filing said.
Apple also hasn't complied with Qualcomm's rights to audit Apple's compliance with the provisions of their software agreement, Qualcomm said in its lawsuit. It wants to do so to make sure Apple hasn't shared more information with Intel.
Also at Bloomberg, AppleInsider, and MacRumors.
Previously: U.S. Federal Trade Commission Sues Qualcomm for Anti-Competitive Practices
Qualcomm's Good Quarter
Intel Hints at Patent Fight With Microsoft and Qualcomm Over x86 Emulation
Apple vs. Qualcomm Escalates, Manufacturers Join in, Lawsuits Filed in California and Germany
Apple Could Switch From Qualcomm to Intel and MediaTek for Modems
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 21 2017, @02:07AM (2 children)
We are still waiting for Qualcomm to make NXP chips undocumented and generally being an ass.
Time to slip NXP chips with "not recommended for designs that need datasheets without bullshit" ?
And while it may not be so, "licensing business" sounds like a slippery slope into rent seeking.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Friday April 21 2017, @02:21AM (1 child)
It's even worse since NXP only recently bought out Freescale. Their popular i.mx6 processors have pretty great documentation. The competition is shrinking in the semiconductor world. Goes well with Microchip's acquisition of Atmel.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 21 2017, @03:03AM
Sounds like a plot to screw people. Denied officially of course..
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday April 21 2017, @02:59AM (1 child)
Found him to be a straight up stand up guy, honest with no politicking that I could detect.
That was 20 years ago, and he chaired Globalstar meetings I attended weekly.
My understanding is that under Paul Jacobs Qualcomm changed for the worse (I left in '08). Lots of people where had been there long enough to be millionaires decided they wanted to be millionaires, not worker bees. But my experience with Mellencopf was all good. Granted, I'm a code monkey and don't understand things like buying NXP. But I understand good working conditions and management that treats worker bees well.
/ consultant from 96 to '00
// employee from '04 to '08
/// stupid to move to a startup in '08, I seriously fucked up all my Qualcomm moves.
//// I could be so rich now :(
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 21 2017, @11:40PM
I too worked at qcom.
I came in after the goldrush (2001). I also knew a lot of people who rode the stock all the way up then all the way down. They are not millionaires. Then again I knew a lot who were...
My assets as a millionaire are not because of qcom but because I saved and did not waste my money on toys but on assets that make me money.