An anonymous Nokia executive has told Reuters that the outcome of the current patent row between Qualcomm and, well, everyone else, over what constitutes “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” royalty payments will determine the future of the mobile industry, from 3G onwards.
“It all adds up, and the result is that 3G W-CDMA mobile phones are more expensive than they could be. Estimates vary, but operators, vendors and analysts reckon that up to 25 percent of the wholesale value of the basic 3G W-CDMA phone is made up of royalty charges, said Pyramid Research analyst Ozgur Aytar...For vendors who own their own 3G patents, that percentage is as high as 10 to 15 percent, she added...By comparison, royalty rates for second generation GSM handsets are around 8.5 percent for companies that do not own their own 2G patents, according to disclosures from BenQ.”