Qualcomm revealed Thursday afternoon that it is buying a raft of mobile operating system patents from Hewlett-Packard. The price was not disclosed.
The portfolio includes 2,400 current and pending patents that cover some "core" mobile operating system technologies that HP acquired through its acquisitions of Palm, IPAQ, and Bitfone. Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) said in a press release that the IPR trove, which includes 1,400 US patents, gives it more strength and diversity in its mobile patent portfolio. (See Palm Plots Beyond Phones.)
Qualcomm has always been seen as interested in Palm's patents. In 2011, the chipmaker was cited as a possible buyer for the WebOS business. (See Could Qualcomm Take WebOS? and HP Shuts Down WebOS Device Biz.) However, it is not yet clear exactly what patents Qualcomm will get with the buy from HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ). In April, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) bought $10 million of former Palm smartphone-related patents.
Nonetheless, Qualcomm already has one of the most formidable wireless patent portfolios in the world.
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading
Since I will never own a WP handset, there are plenty of handsets to choose from.
I have dealt with Qualcomm on many fronts and it is the same tactic that is constantly used.
I remember their base stations. They were set in a redundant pair and all I will say it is that it was not because of *if* one crashes or fails.
The elephant in the room; when is Qualcomm not being investigated?
Have you noticed that the last *G standard that Qualcomm did was 3G and their 4G offering was passed by the industry like a panhandler on the corner? They didn't even make eye contact. 5G looks to be the same way. The major players have learned from their dealings with Qualcomm.
Can Qualcomm make a living out of just selling chips or will the bottom of the market fall out of it and make it a true commodity item?