Another Chapter in Korea's Relationship with Qualcomm

Way back in 1993 the Korean government made a difficulty and bold decision to adopt CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology as its mobile communications standard.  Although holding much promise for the future, at that time it was an untested technology to which a small U.S. company, Qualcomm, held most of the patents.  The Korean government decision made it the first nation in the world to commercialize CDMA.
For many years, Korean companies paid handsome royalties to Qualcomm as they manufactured CDMA devices not only for the Korean market, but for export to the U.S. and other countries.   Last year, the Korea Fair Trade Commission fined Qualcomm a record $236 million for discriminatory acts that included charging higher royalties to some customers.  Now Qualcomm, as part of the agreement that followed that fine, will start disclosing information that will allow South Korean companies to develop software for its chips.  As reported in the Joongang Ilbo,  Qualcomm intends to open an application digital signal processor (ADSP) interface so that third parties can develop mobile multimedia software that can be used on its modem chip, for which it has exclusive rights. The interface helps to compress and convert computer files into moving images, making it possible to receive video and other types of content on a cell phone.
This is an interesting development that may give a boost to Korea's efforts to move from its manufacturing emphasis into software and services.

Qualcomm Fined $208 Million

According to the Korea Times, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, this nation's anti-trust watchdog, has fined the U.S.-based company Qualcomm a record amount of $208 million for unfair business practices.  The Commisson said that the U.S. chipmaker had used its market dominance to maintain a virtual monopoly on CDMA-based phone chips.  Qualcomm owns critical key patents for CDMA, reaping huge profits from Samsung and LG Electronics.
What the Korea Times article neglects to mention is that Korea, back in the 1990s became the first nation in the world to commercialize CDMA technology.  This was accomplished through a partnership of Qualcomm and Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).  As a result of the successful commercialization of CDMA in Korea, and its adoption by mobile service providers in the U.S. and other parts of the world, Korea's electronics companies began benefitting hugely from the export of CDMA handsets and mobile base stations.  As mobile telephony worldwide is transformed into mobile computing and internet access via the iPhone, Android phones and competitors, the latest versions of CDMA are likely to be even more important.  There is much more to say on this topic, but I'll conclude for now with one comment.  A lot of money is at stake here.    How much is Qualcomm entitled to and for how long for its intellectual property?  Comments are welcome.