Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs has said that Qualcomm is “hopeful that we can avoid Armageddon and a massive escalation but it’s hard to know”, concerning its dispute with Nokia over royalty payments for WCDMA handsets. The current agreement ends next week, and neither side is giving any indication of backing down. The stakes are high for both companies:
“Richard Windsor, Nomura telecoms equipment analyst, said recently that Nokia, with 40 per cent of the W-CDMA market, would soon be paying Qualcomm more than $1bn a year at current royalty rates…“For Qualcomm, the stakes are even higher as the industry will use the outcome as a yardstick for all future negotiations. We think that Qualcomm is fighting for its survival as losing to Nokia will punch a massive hole in its business model,” he said.”