Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3178 Collection
"Huh?" Zhou Buqi looked at him in surprise, "Can it really save money?"

Zhou Shaoning said: "It's true. Many patent holders are small companies that don't have the strength to fight such transnational lawsuits. They can only accept the bad luck for those infringements. Or some big companies that don't care about patents or don't care about the patent fees will not come to ask for them. So this model can indeed save a lot of patent fees."

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "It's really amazing."

When using Qualcomm chips, Qualcomm has already taken care of everything. The patent fees to be bundled and paid have all been agreed upon, and mobile phone manufacturers just need to pay according to the conditions.

If you buy MediaTek chips or use self-developed chips, there will not be so many binding conditions on patent fees.

There is an opportunity to circumvent patent fees secretly.

Because going to the door to collect patent fees is also a huge operating cost investment, many patent companies simply cannot afford this job. For example, ZTE and Huawei in China also have many patents, which are actually tacitly allowed to be used by global technology companies.

Infringement is infringement.

I simply don't have the time or energy to go to each company and ask for patent fees.

Going to someone’s home to collect debts is a skill that not everyone can master.

Zhou Shaoning said: "Asking for patent fees is not an easy task. First, you have to buy all the hardware products on the market, and then disassemble them for a series of complex technical analyses. Analyze which technologies these products use and which patents they apply. Then you can determine whether these products really infringe on your own patents. This is too complicated. Many companies don't have the strength to do this, and they don't even have an analysis team."

Zhou Buqi nodded. "Yes, an analysis team needs at least a dozen people. But some small patent companies only have a few people and cannot afford such a task."

Zhou Shaoning said: "So by not using Qualcomm chips and without those bundling conditions, mobile phone manufacturers have more room for maneuver. Many domestic mobile phone manufacturers have begun to switch to MediaTek chips, not only because MediaTek chips are cheaper than Qualcomm's, but also because MediaTek chips can bypass patents and save a lot of money on patents."

Zhou Buqi analyzed: "Many small and medium-sized mobile phone manufacturers have very little revenue, so they will not be targeted by patent giants like Ericsson, right?"

Zhou Shaoning smiled and said, "Yes, not only in China, but even in Europe and the United States, there are not so many restrictions on some small companies. Europe even has clear laws. Small companies can do the same thing, but large companies cannot; small companies can moderately skirt the rules, but large companies are strictly regulated."

"Well, this will be the mainstream trend in Europe and the United States."

Zhou Buqi was all too familiar with this.

This is especially true in the Internet industry.

For example, if a video product from a large company contains pornographic, gambling, or drug-related content, the authorities will warn them and limit the audience. If a small company contains such content, no one will care and you can do whatever you want.

Big companies are strong, so they should be taken seriously; small companies are weak, so they have privileges.

It’s the same principle as “Black Lives Matter”, black people are disadvantaged, so they have privileges.

You can humiliate the president, but you cannot humiliate the cleaner; you can scold the hard-working business owner for being greedy, but you cannot say that the dock workers who go on strike every day are profit-driven.

In the mobile phone industry.

Small companies can infringe on patents and do not have to pay patent fees. Industry giants like Astar are watching with countless eyes. If they want to circumvent this restriction, they will have endless patent lawsuits.

The larger the company, the fewer patents it infringes, but the more patent lawsuits it has to deal with.

Industry giants like Samsung and Apple have to deal with dozens or even hundreds of patent lawsuits every year.

Zhou Buqi said: "The current situation in China is that the more powerful people are, the more privileges they have, and the lower the social level, the easier it is for them to be manipulated. Developed countries in Europe and America are gradually moving in the opposite direction."

Zhou Shaoning smiled and said, "Yes, that's why Ericsson sued us and went to India. Because of Estar's connections in China, even if they sued, it would be difficult for them to succeed."

Zhou Buqi pondered and said, "No wonder Qualcomm has been playing the monopoly for so many years, and its position is getting more and more solid. Qualcomm has formed an entire interest alliance that spans the globe. Patent companies around the world are all tied to Qualcomm. Qualcomm's 'chip + patent' bundling sales strategy can help them collect patent fees at almost zero cost, making it impossible for manufacturers who use Qualcomm chips to evade the patent fees they should pay."

Zhou Shaoning nodded. "From this perspective, Ericsson and Qualcomm share a common interest, and will cooperate with Qualcomm's needs."

Zhou Buqi was a little puzzled. "Since Ericsson's patent fees should be paid, why not just pay them directly? Why delay?"

"This is the crux of the problem, and the most troublesome part." Zhou Shaoning was helpless, "Because Qualcomm is a patent platform, they are the 'centralized procurement' party!"

"Ah? Group purchasing?"

"Yes, Qualcomm uses its monopoly position in the chip market as a backdrop to issue centralized procurement to patent manufacturers around the world. The price they pay for patents is much lower than the market price."

"So that's it!"

Zhou Buqi suddenly realized.

Zhou Shaoning said: "In the past, we used Qualcomm chips, and the patent fee we paid to Ericsson for each mobile phone was about US$2.5. Samsung and Apple were the same, and they basically had a unified standard. If we did not use Qualcomm chips and negotiated with Ericsson separately, the price would be higher. They asked for US$5.5."

Zhou Buqi took a deep breath and said, "Qualcomm's move is really ruthless!"

Zhou Shaoning said: "Yes, Qualcomm's centralized procurement strategy has brought together forces from all over the world for Qualcomm. Whether it is MediaTek's chips or the self-developed chips of Apple, Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, and Asda, they are not competing against Qualcomm or the United States. In fact, they are competing against the industrial system of the whole world."

Zhou Buqi asked: "You didn't know before?"

Zhou Shaoning said: "Even if you know something, it is difficult to feel the difficulties in the industry without really participating in it. Qualcomm has built a strong moat. It may be interesting to watch the fire from the other side of the river, but only when you are in the fire can you feel the horror of the raging fire."

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "You are quite literary."

Zhou Shaoning said helplessly: "The current situation is very tricky. Qualcomm has used this move to make us face serious development difficulties if we want to continue to develop mobile phone models with MediaTek and self-developed chips. Related mobile phones are not even allowed to enter the Indian market. And India is only the beginning, and it is likely to penetrate into more countries in Southeast Asia next."

(End of this chapter)