News · 7 Jul 2011 · MTW Editorial Team
Looks like my last guess was close to the mark yesterday. HTC has admitted today that the company’s acquisition of S3 Graphics was mainly for the patents. According to HTC’s CFO, Winston Yung, yesterday(s acquisition was done to help HTC in it’s ongoing battle against Apple (an US ITC judge ruled that Apple infringed on two of S3′s patents earlier this month) and to secure some valuable patents that could come in handy in case other companies decide to sue the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer:
“In patent negotiations, it is difficult if the other company has patents and you don’t. If you have patents too, perhaps you can arrive at a cross-licensing agreement,”
“We’re not talking about five years before we will see financial benefits and returns, we’re talking about using these patents to start generating revenue now,”
It should also be noted that HTC Chairwoman, Cher Wang is the wife of VIA’s CEO Wen Chi Chen (and is also VIA’s Chariwoman)
Source: WSJ
Buyer action
Where to buy or check next
Use this as the final check before ordering a phone, changing network or trusting a headline monthly price.
