Categories
Close
Menu
Menu
Close
Search
Search

Featured Articles

News

Growth in royalty payments by mobile device manufacturers is starting to slow

Mark

Share:

Print

Rate article:

No rating
Rate this article:
No rating

​Total royalty payments for GSM, WCDMA and LTE technology on mobile phones are approaching $20 billion (£13 billion) per year, according to a new report from ABI Research. It says the amount paid in licensing fees by manufacturers will continue to grow for the next few years but is starting to flatten out. For example, the growth of 3G means that GSM handset royalties are already playing a much less significant role for royalty revenues.

ABI Research has calculated that vendors pay anything from less than 4% (if they have a very strong patent portfolio with bilateral agreements) to well into the teens for GSM/WCDMA handsets. The average fluctuates between approximately seven and eight per cent.

Philip Solis, research director for mobile networks at ABI Research, said “WWAN royalties on handsets are a significant source of revenue for companies holding the largest amount of essential patents. In addition to being a source of revenue for companies, patents are being used more aggressively for offense and defense against competitors.”

[Report]

Comments

Collapse Expand Comments (0)
You don't have permission to post comments.

Opinion Articles

Whatever happened to all my tech?

ExclusiveWhatever happened to all my tech?

Mark Bridge writes:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.

ExclusivePredictions for 2016: Network Function Virtualisation, 4G throttling and video calling

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Kapture review: the audio-recording wristband

ExclusiveKapture review: the audio-recording wristband

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

RSS
12345678910Last

Recent Podcasts

ExclusiveMotorola cuts jobs, Digia acquires Qt and Starbucks partners with Square

This week's edition of The Fonecast starts with news that Motorola Mobility is to lose around a fifth of its staff worldwide. There's also more reorganisation at Nokia, which is passing its Qt software business to Digia.

In addition we're talking about a new US partnership between Starbucks and Square, some good news for Research In Motion, a worrying report for Samsung and a major milestone for Shazam.

ExclusiveSamsung and Apple's quarterly results, smartphone sales figures and much more

There are plenty of quarterly results to report in this week's edition of The Fonecast, including Samsung, Apple, Telefonica and Facebook. In addition, we have new research that shows how smartphone sales are racing ahead as feature phone sales slow down.

There's also news about mobile coverage in the Channel Tunnel, mobile application downloads and m-commerce.

ExclusiveDoug Suriano of Tekelec talks about net neutrality for mobile networks

In today's podcast we're talking to Doug Suriano, Chief Technology Officer at mobile broadband solutions company Tekelec, about net neutrality.

Net neutrality is the principle that consumers are not restricted in the ways they're able to use their internet connection. The topic is often in the headlines, either because some governments may want to prevent their citizens from viewing certain types of information - or because of commercial restrictions.

ExclusiveOfcom prepares the UK for 4G, WAC joins the GSMA and O2 talks about compensation

We start this week's podcast with two news stories from Ofcom. Not only has the regulator announced its plans for the UK's 4G spectrum auction, it's also released research that shows we're texting more than we talk.

There's a look at the changing relationship between HTC and Beats Electronics, O2's apology for the network outage earlier this month and the Wholesale Applications Community's integration into the GSMA.

RSS
First2930313234363738Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Archive Calendar

«June 2026»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
25262728293031
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293012345

Archive