Qualcomm to Review Accounting Practices
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Qualcomm plans to study whether to change its accounting practices to reflect the growing size and volatility of the mobile communications market.
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Shares fall as the company says it may end royalty estimates and count them only when received. NEW YORK  - Qualcomm Inc.
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Wireless chip developer Qualcomm Inc.   on Wednesday reported a 15 percent rise in  third-quarter net profit, but shares fell more than 7 percent  after it forecast fourth-quarter revenue lower than some  analysts' estimates.
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At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Qualcomm offered a sneak peek of its concept for an ultramobile PC for the largely untapped market where it will meet Intel head on.Qualcomm for the first time demonstrated a prototype of a device reminiscent of Nokia&#39;s N800. Qualcomm calls it a pocketable computer because &quot;if you can&#39;t carry it in your pocket, you can&#39;t carry it with you,&quot; said Sanjay Jha, chief operating officer and president of Qualcomm&#39;s CDMA Technologies Group. The device, which has a slide-out keyboard, runs Windows Mobile, and has HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), GPS (Global Positioning Service), Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.The screen is 800 pixels wide so that most Web sites designed for PCs render nicely, Jha said. That means users could view the regular YouTube.com site, rather than a version of the site designed for mobile phones, he said.The prototype runs on the 7201 chip, a new chip released recently by Qualcomm, but the design is intended to showcase&#160;Qualcomm&#39;s new Snapdragon line of chips. Those chips are now being sampled by hardware vendors, with initial commercial devices expected out this year, he said.Despite the slow take-off of such devices that sit between notebooks and phones -- such as the Samsung Q that runs on Microsoft&#39;s Windows-based ultra-mobile PC platform -- Jha said other factors are finally falling into place to increase their appeal. Faster wireless networks, better processors that require less power and in the near future, the openness of mobile networks and billing plans should increase demand and sales, he said.Still, Qualcomm doesn&#39;t expect that this category of device will approach the widespread adoption of mobile phones. He figures that smartphones make up about 200 million of the entire 1.3 billion handsets on the market. &quot;I think it&#39;s possible to envision a device that sells in that ballpark volume,&quot; Jha said.The chip maker will face Intel in this market, which is also introducing chips for devices that are smaller than laptops but bigger than cell phones. In fact,&#160;Apple is rumored to be developing an ultra-mobile PC product&#160;based on Intel&#39;s processors.&quot;We come at this problem from an understanding of wireless,&quot; Jha said. &quot;Intel comes at it from an understanding of computing. We both bring different things to the table. Time will tell how our vision works versus Intel&#39;s direction.&quot;The companies are also making different bets in terms of wireless network compatibility. &quot;We&#39;re working on WiMax as well but our priority is clearly 3G,&quot; Jha said. Intel, a big backer of WiMax, has said that it may&#160;build WiMax into Menlow, its platform for ultramobile devices, for release some time this year.Nokia&#39;s N800 devices fit into a similar category between a phone and a notebook. Despite the fact that Nokia and Qualcomm are in a bitter licensing dispute, Jha praised the N800, saying it sold more initially than Nokia expected. Nokia has typically declined to reveal sales figures for the devices.Qualcomm doesn&#39;t envision that Snapdragon will only be used in &quot;pocketable computing&quot; devices, the company&#39;s preferred term for what are commonly called ultra-mobile PCs. The chips could be used in navigation devices with wireless connectivity to deliver traffic information to users. Gaming devices, dedicated Internet devices or gadgets like Amazon&#39;s digital book-reader Kindle could also use the chips, Jha said.
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InfoWorld - Ongoing legal disputes over mobile phone patents between Nokia and Qualcomm are consuming much executive management time, generating substantial lawyer fees, and, if they escalate, could affect handset development and prices, experts warn.
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Investors looking at Qualcomm&#39;s (QCOM:Nasdaq - news - research) fourth-quarter earnings report will be seeking a clear signal on the wireless sector.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said that QualcommÂ is infringing on one of Broadcom's patents, dealing a blow to Qualcomm in anÂ ongoing patent battleÂ between the companies. The Commission hasn't yet issued a penalty for the infringement and Qualcomm pledged to appeal the decision. The companies are in the midst of many other lawsuits with each other regarding cell phone patents. Broadcom said the Commission could bar Qualcomm from importing its chips to the U.S., forbid Qualcomm from selling the infringing products in the U.S., and even ban the import of phones containing the chips. But Qualcomm says that the Administrative Law Judge, who made the initial ruling that was upheld by the Commission, has recommended against barring the import of phones that use the chips. The Commission made its ruling on Friday and both Qualcomm and Broadcom released statements on Monday. The Commission will issue its remedy decision by Feb. 9. Qualcomm has downplayed the importance of the technology in question, saying it is based on software and not fundamental to CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), the mobile technology that Qualcomm created and is best known for. Qualcomm has said previously that it is exploring ways to work around the technology. The two companies have several other outstanding cases against each other. One is set to be tried in March, another in May, and a third doesn't yet have a trial date set. Broadcom is also appealing an antitrust suit that it filed against Qualcomm which has been dismissed. Broadcom is also one of five technology companies that filedÂ anticompetitive complaints against QualcommÂ with the European Commission. Â
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Qualcomm Inc. QCOM.O may change the  way it recognizes royalties from its licensees, which would  reduce fourth-quarter pre-tax income by $298 million, the  company said on Friday.
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Qualcomm is betting on its Code Division Multiple Access cellular technology.
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Qualcomm Inc. may change the way it recognizes royalties from its licensees, which would reduce fourth-quarter pre-tax income by $298 million, the company said on Friday.
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The Securities and Exchange Board of India will examine the legal aspects of alleged insider and unfair trading practices in Reliance Industries&#39; scrip in the wake of RIL vice-chairman and managing director Anil Ambani&#39;s comments before the company&#39;s
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DENVER -- The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Qwest Communications&#39; former chief executive could soon face civil charges for his alleged role in an accounting scandal at the company.
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Nokia said Tuesday that the US International Trade Commission would begin investigating its claims of unfair business practices and patent infringement against Qualcomm.
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Wireless chip supplier Qualcomm Inc  said on Wednesday it would be hurt in the short term by a court injunction on the sale of chips infringing rival Broadcom Corp's  patents, but it promised to have alternative products in phones before the end of the quarter.
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Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) may change the way it recognizes royalties from its licensees, which would reduce fourth-quarter pre-tax income by $298 million, the company said on Friday.
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U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co   is expected to make changes to its accounting policies  in a bid to end a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission  probe, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing  people familiar with the situation.
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Qualcomm and Broadcom have settled some of their patent claims against each other, avoiding a jury trial scheduled to begin next month, Qualcomm said on Friday. They remainÂ deadlocked over other patents, however, and still face several potential trials this year.