Mobile Handset Royalties

Intellectual Property Rights Analysis for GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, LTE, WIMAX and UMB Devices



Cellular handset royalties play an important part in any company’s strategy regarding the handset segments they address. IP is fast becoming an important differentiating factor that enables a company to pick and choose where to play, while the lack of a strong portfolio significantly limits any company’s options and prospects for profit. While some have accused excess patenting of stifling innovation, the need for a strong IP portfolio has acted to spur major market players to new R&D efforts and greater innovation. This study provides in-depth analysis of the royalty issues relating to all major cellular technologies, and offers exhaustive qualitative analysis on average royalty rates.


What Does This Report Answer?

  • Who are the major IP owners?
  • What are average royalty rates?
  • How will these rates differ over time?
  • What is the total revenue from royalties?
  • What effects will royalties have upon market uptake?
  • What effect does royalty have upon devices cost?
Who Needs This Report?
  • Handset vendors
  • Silicon vendors
  • Cellular carriers
  • Regulators


Section 1.
Executive Summary
1.1 CDMA Royalty Summary
1.2 GSM Royalty Summary
1.3 WCDMA Royalty Summary
1.4 Beyond 3G Royalty Summary
1.5 Projected Revenues

Section 2.
Royalty Background
2.1 The Role of a Royalty — Accessing Other Companies IP
2.1.1 Why Patents?
2.1.1.1 Defensive Patenting
2.1.1.2 Offensive Patenting
2.1.1.3 Organizational Patenting
2.1.2 Licensing and Royalty
2.1.3 Royalty Payment Structures
2.1.4 Cross Licensing
2.1.5 Royalty Benchmarking
2.2 What Are Essential Patents?
2.3 Patent Quality
2.4 Patent Disclosure
2.5 Patent Thicketing
2.6 Proportionality Versus Value
2.7 The Nature of Royalty Negotiations
2.8 Royalty Dispute Resolution
2.9 Grant Back
2.10 License Stacking
2.11 Transparency
2.11.1 Of Essential Patents
2.11.2 Of License Terms
2.12 Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory Terms (FRAND)
2.12.1 Aggregated Reasonable Terms
2.12.2 Benchmarked Terms Based on Transparent License Terms
2.13 Litigation
2.14 Non-Manufacturer License Holders
2.15 Patent Trolls
2.16 Balancing Royalty Levels with Market Development
2.17 The R&D Versus M&A Equation
2.18 Royalties, Patents, and Innovation

Section 3.
CDMA Handset Royalties
3.1 CDMA Handset Market Size
3.2 CDMA Handset ASP
3.3 Recent CDMA Handset Royalty News
3.4 Qualcomm’s Dominance of CDMA Royalty Revenues
3.5 Qualcomm Royalty Stance
3.6 Combining Royalties with Chipset Contracts
3.7 Licensees
3.8 Average Royalty Rates
3.9 Current IP Conflicts
3.9.1 Nokia and Qualcomm
3.9.1.1 Current License Conditions
3.9.1.2 Qualcomm’s Position
3.9.1.3 Nokia’s Position
3.9.1.4 Likely Outcome and Market Impact
3.9.2 Broadcom and Qualcomm
3.9.2.1 Double Dipping and Alleged Infringement
3.9.2.2 Qualcomm’s Position
3.9.2.3 Broadcom’s Position
3.9.2.4 Likely Outcome and Market Impact
3.10 Impacts of Royalty Monopoly
3.10.1 Facilitating New Entrants
3.10.2 Poor Perceived Image
3.10.3 Restricted Market Barrier to Multi-Vendor Environments
3.11 CDMA Royalty Revenues
3.11.1 Methodology
3.11.2 Assumptions and Conditions
3.11.3 Average Royalty Rate
3.11.4 Total Royalty Revenues
3.12 Conclusions

Section 4.
GSM Handset Royalties
4.1 GSM Handset Market Size
4.2 GSM Handset ASP
4.3 Recent GSM Handset Royalty News
4.4 Major Patent Holders
4.4.1 Those Holding Essential IP
4.4.2 Those with Limited IP
4.5 ETSI GSM IPR Policy
4.5.1 What Is Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory Licensing with Regard to GSM?
4.5.2 What Conflict Resolution Mechanisms Are Built into the ETSI Policy?
4.6 Average Royalty Rates
4.7 Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios
4.7.1 With Significant Portfolio for Cross Licensing
4.7.2 Without Significant Portfolio for Cross Licensing
4.8 Impact on an Opaque Licensing Environment
4.8.1 Market Barrier to New Entrants
4.8.2 Potentials for Infringement
4.8.3 Implications for Double Dipping
4.9 Implications of a Minimal Portfolio
4.9.1 Addressing the Emerging Markets
4.10 The Impact of Manufacturing Outside of Europe
4.10.1 ETSI IPR Policy Relevance
4.11 GSM Royalty Revenues
4.11.1 Methodology
4.11.2 Assumptions and Conditions
4.11.3 Average Royalty Rates
4.11.4 Total Royalty Revenues
4.12 Conclusions

Section 5.
W-CDMA Handset Royalties
5.1 WCDMA Handset Market Size
5.2 WCDMA Handset ASP
5.3 Major Patent Holders
5.3.1 Similarity to CDMA 2000
5.3.2 The Real Issue of Essentiality — Reported Versus Actual Essentiality
5.3.2.1 Goodman Myers
5.3.2.2 Impact of Grant Back
5.3.2.3 Citation as a Measure of Quality
5.3.3 The Anti-Qualcomm Sentiment
5.3.4 Historical Perspective on Royalty Rates
5.3.5 Real-World Need to Stimulate Markets
5.4 Best and Worst-Case Scenarios
5.4.1 With Significant Portfolio for Cross Licensing
5.4.2 Without Significant Portfolio for Cross Licensing
5.5 Access to Cross Licensed Portfolios Through Silicon Purchase
5.6 Fractured Patent Licensing Situation
5.7 WCDMA Royalty Revenues
5.7.1 Methodology
5.7.2 Assumptions and Conditions
5.7.3 Average Royalty Rate
5.7.4 Total Royalty Revenues
5.8 Conclusions

Section 6.
Royalties Beyond 3GM
6.1 WIMAX, LTE, or UMB
6.2 Why OFDM?
6.2.1 WIMAX Low Royalty Targets
6.2.2 Flarion Acquisition
6.2.3 Patent Holdings for WiMAX
6.3 MIMO and the Airgo Acquisition
6.4 The Patent Scramble and its Effects on R&D
6.5 Conclusions
Section 7.
Company List

Section 8.
Acronyms

Scope of Study
Sources and Methodology
Notes

Tables and Charts
  • WCDMA Declared Essential IP
  • WCDMA Goodman Myers Judged Essential IP
  • WCDMA Patent Filings by Country or Treaty
  • Average Handset Cumulative Royalty Rate by Technology, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • Handset Royalties by Region and Technology, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • CDMA Handset Market Size by Region, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • CDMA Handset ASP, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • CDMA Handset Average Royalty Rates, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • Total CDMA Handset Royalties by Region, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • GSM Handset Market Size by Region, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • GSM Handset ASP, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • GSM Handset Average Royalty Rates, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • Total GSM Handset Royalties by Region, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • WCDMA Handset Market Size by Region, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • WCDMA Handset ASP, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • WCDMA Handset Average Royalty Rates, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • Total WCDMA Handset Royalties by Region, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • WCDMA Handset Average Royalty Rates: Based on a Resolution of the Qualcomm/Nokia Question in Favor of Nokia, World Market: 2005 to 2011
  • Total WCDMA Handset Royalties by Region: Based on a Resolution of the Qualcomm/Nokia Question in Favor of Nokia, World Market: 2005 to 2011
Report Code: RR-ROYL

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Number of Pages: 54
Number of Tables, Charts and Figures: 16
Deliverable Formats:
Price: Login
Release Date: 1Q 2007


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