Bidness ETC - ITC Clears Samsung and Qualcomm In Nvidia Case As IT Giant Donates A Million Dollar for New UT Engineering Centre

Case involves graphics processors used in Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile devices.

Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) is likely to face a reprieve from the ongoing Nvidia Corp. case as a result of patent infringement accusations, which also involves Samsung as the party accused, though Qualcomm also had a bit of a part to play in it too.

The case involves the use of graphics processor by Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile devices, and a victory in the case will result in the potential ban of mobile phones and other infringement stained processors.

Staff members of ITC announced their stance on Monday as the commission began their public hearing for the case. Due to confidential information, the recommendation was put in pretrial brief under a seal.

The recommendations give a significant advantage for Samsung and Qualcomm that gives them some moral boost in their quest to have the ruling overturned in their favor; though the final ruling will not be made till October.

If the ruling is in favor of Nvidia, which is the largest chip makers for the computer graphics cards, then it would hold out a potential of around $2 billion of royalty payments for its technology usage.

For Qualcomm, a win in this case will help it to ensure that it does not get itself entangled into another controversy. It would want to focus on its priorities on engaging itself in the Internet of Things (IoT) technology that it will venture on its own and not get involved into a partnership with the other firms who are also pursing the same, but face the risk of copyright infringement case, similar to this one.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm Inc has donated almost a million dollars to the University of Texas’ Cockrell School of Engineering for the development of its new Engineering Education and Research Centre. It will provide a new home for the UT Austin’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group, which opens by 2017.

The new place will be named the Qualcomm Wireless Networking and Communications Research Neighborhood, which will house 20 faculty associates and between 130-150 undergraduates and graduates, along with a number of researchers and partners.

Qualcomm’s stock price ended the day at $67.36, a gain of 0.75% from the previous day, probably as investors sound relatively bullish about the prospect of Qualcomm being ‘let off the hook’, whether the IT giant, intentionally or unintentionally, dragged itself into the case, and hoped that it served a lesson for the company to tread a careful path when it comes to partnerships.

Bidness ETC - Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) soaring in smartphone market

Apple crossed Samsung smartphone sales; Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei attracted market by offering inexpensive sets.

Smartphone sales escalated one billion mark in 2014, Gartner published its report regarding smartphone sales in Q4, 2014 on Tuesday. According to the report Apple Inc. succeeded in controlling the industry whereas SAMSUNG ELECT LTD lost the market hold it reigned over for past 3 years.

According to the report 367.5 million devices made their way to global consumers. Of which Apple sold 75 million smartphones whereas Samsung was able to sell 73 million handsets. The margin does not pose a massive difference in terms of handsets sold however ensures a leap of 0.5 percentage points which turns out to be a game changer for two dominant forces in the smartphone industry.

Apple iPhone 6 has completely changed the game for Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). The company’s strategy to launch a bigger smartphone proved to be fruitful since the sales of the latest version have been overwhelming.

According to Anshul Gupta, primary research analyst at Gartner, “Samsung continues to struggle to control its falling smartphone share, which was at its highest in the third quarter of 2013. This downward trend shows that Samsung’s share of profitable premium smartphone users has come under significant pressure.”

Apple has not only sold the maximum number of handsets but also banged the steady flow of revenues throughout Q4. According to a report by Strategy Analytics: Apple has governed almost 90% of profits in the smartphone domain in Q4.

Several smartphones makers emerged in 2014 who disrupted the market at a fairly steady pace. Lenovo, Xiaomi and Huawei are one of the few stakeholders who succeeded in attracting the market by offering inexpensive smartphones. These companies also tripled the number of handsets sold in Q4 2013 to Q4 2014. Irrespective of the growth, the three smartphone manufacturers have not been able to sabotage Apple or Samsung’s share accumulatively.

According to Roberta Cozza, the research director at Gartner, “With Apple dominating the premium phone market and the Chinese vendors increasingly offering quality hardware at lower prices, it is through a solid ecosystem of apps, content and services unique to Samsung devices that Samsung can secure more loyalty and longer-term differentiation at the high end of the market.”

However, Samsung has been working on several differentiated projects in order to breathe life into its staggering smartphone market, but this might not prove to be fruitful since Android has a strong hold over the entire smartphone fraternity. Dragging away to a differentiated operating system will further rupture the company, as it will not be able to cater to the needs of smartphone users at such a fast pace.

The smartphone industry has observed a steady growth on a global canvas. Gratner reports, “All regions recorded growth in 2014, except Japan and Western Europe, which recorded decline of 2.8% and 9.1% respectively.”