Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3189: Better to Break than to Bend
Li Zairong came running over in a hurry.

This is a temporary arrangement.

It was very hasty and was not originally in his plan.

However, he had to make this trip.

Because this is too important. If it is not handled properly, it may deal a fatal blow to Samsung's self-developed chip business. The road of self-developed chips is really too difficult to take. The higher the end of the chip, the stronger the blockade effect and the greater the resistance.

Just look at the situation in the United States and you will know that even Apple has suffered a setback.

The latest news is that in the patent lawsuit between Qualcomm and Apple, there seems to be a new industry trend. The evaluation agency believes that Qualcomm has a certain degree of monopoly behavior, and also believes that Apple has infringed Qualcomm's patents.

Then this is a serious problem.

Is it Qualcomm's monopoly that is more harmful to Apple, or is it Apple's infringement that is more harmful to Qualcomm?
Both sides are at fault.

If one side is not wrong, the other side would not dare to attack so openly and directly.

The intersection now mainly depends on who makes the more serious mistake.

The damage I have done to you is 10 points, and the damage you have done to me is 100 points. Even if I attacked first, you are still defending yourself too much, and you have to pay me some compensation.

Because there is a more important point behind it.

There is a powerful intellectual property alliance behind Qualcomm.

In addition to Qualcomm, patent giants such as Ericsson and Nokia have also filed lawsuits against Apple. Ericsson, in particular, has launched a four-pronged attack in seven or eight European and American countries, demanding a ban on the sale of the iPhone.

It can be said that the global patent war is on the verge of breaking out.

Can Apple withstand it?

Lee Jae-yong was worried.

After analysis, his team came up with a very pessimistic conclusion, that is, even a powerful company like Apple cannot fight against four hands with two fists, and it is difficult to fight against the European and American patent system that has been built for decades. Qualcomm is the core of the mobile phone patent system, and it is almost impossible for Apple to win the patent war against Qualcomm.

The final result...

It is very likely that Apple compromised by ceding territory and paying compensation.

So Lee Jae-yong was very nervous.

He didn't want Samsung to fall into the same passive situation as Apple, so he had to act quickly, even at the cost of more money, to quickly resolve the current turmoil. He had to negotiate with Ericsson as soon as possible to prevent the patent war from spreading to Samsung.

It is a good strategy to cooperate with Mr. Zhou and face the patent war together.

Zhou Buqi has also developed his own response plan.

He was warmly invited.

I wanted to visit the temporary headquarters of Estar with him first. After all, it was his first time here, so I had to show him around out of courtesy. Otherwise, it would seem too petty, as if he had some treasure at home that he was afraid of others seeing.

One of the most friendly aspects of a technology company is mutual sharing and communication. But Lee Jae-yong was not in the mood for that. After a few pleasantries, he hurried to the meeting room to start negotiations on cooperation.

"The Ericsson issue is urgent!" Lee Jae-yong said immediately after he sat down. "The Indian market is just the beginning. If we don't come up with a solution quickly, it will definitely spread to the world."

Zhou Buqi sat on the right side of the negotiation table. Although he was just an ordinary director of Estar, he sat in the middle. He said in a deep voice, "That's true. I really didn't expect Ericsson to be so fierce this time."

Li Zairong said: "You know about Apple, right? Ericsson originally filed a lawsuit against Apple in the United States, but Apple refused to compromise. Ericsson immediately escalated the incident and filed similar lawsuits against Apple in many European countries. The 3g/4g patents in Ericsson's hands are all standard patents and will be used in every smartphone."

Zhou Buqi nodded and said, "If you use someone else's patent, you should pay the patent fee. This is only natural."

"But the price is too unfair." Li Zairong sighed, "Ericsson should treat everyone equally. It can't be that Qualcomm's chips are low-priced, while other mobile phone chips are charged too high patent fees. This is helping Qualcomm use its monopoly position to suppress its peers."

Zhou Buqi said seriously: "That's true. Mobile phone manufacturers should fight for their own rights."

"Hmm?" Li Zairong was slightly startled, thinking that what he said was all empty talk, so he asked, "How do we fight for it?"

Zhou Buqi suggested: "Isn't there a FRAND rate standard in the mobile phone industry? It requires global communications companies to ensure global fairness, rationality and non-discrimination in 2G-5G standard essential patents. The price for Qualcomm's chips is $2.5, but for our chips it is more than $5, which is already discrimination."

"Uh..." Li Zairong was slightly stunned, "Isn't this a bad idea?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Why not? Since Ericsson wants to resolve the dispute through litigation, we can also sue in the UK and ask them to review the FRAND rate based on the inconsistency of Ericsson's patent price."

Li Zairong was a bit troubled. "This matter is quite complicated. In fact, according to Ericsson's standards, there is a fair model."

"fair?"

"Qualcomm chips' strong bundling clauses make it impossible for mobile phone manufacturers to evade such standard patents when using Qualcomm chips. For patent manufacturers, this means that they do not need operating expenses and can receive regular payments from Qualcomm. For non-Qualcomm chips, patent manufacturers need to set up technical teams, dissect products on the market, identify and analyze them one by one, and hire legal advisors and negotiation experts to talk to these manufacturers..."

“Isn’t this a reason?”

Zhou Buqi pretended to be ignorant and acted a bit reckless.

Li Zairong said: "From Ericsson's perspective, the two are actually in the same revenue model. Although Qualcomm's chips have lower rates, Ericsson's operating costs in Qualcomm chips are also lower."

Zhou Buqi didn't seem to want to hear this. "It doesn't matter. Let the court decide what happens!"

Li Zairong had a bad feeling in his heart, "But if we go to the UK to file a counterclaim, it will delay the timeline for a long time."

"Then drag it! One of my principles is to break rather than bend!"

Zhou Buqi showed a heroic spirit.

Li Zairong cursed in his heart, but still tried to persuade them, "But India can't wait any longer."

Zhou Buqi snorted, "What's there to wait for? It doesn't matter! At worst, we won't go to the Indian market! We'll decide after the British ruling! Samsung and Asda can't survive without the Indian market, right?"

Li Zaiyong almost vomited blood. "This is not just India. If India fails to handle it well, it will inevitably spread to the global market."

"The global market is the global market, I don't care!" Zhou Buqi was very confident. "At worst, Astar will go bankrupt. What else can I do? Without Astar, I still have seven or eight listed companies. I don't need this one!"

After hearing this, Li Zairong almost slipped out of his seat and under the table.