How Qualcomm Became Vulnerable to a Takeover Bid

How Qualcomm Became Vulnerable to a Takeover Bid
But, Mr. Mollenkopf observed at a Fortune conference in July, “people want to pay less.”
When asked about the bitter conflict with Apple, which has battered Qualcomm’s profits,
Mr. Mollenkopf said his company’s position was simple: There is a contract in place.
Steven Mollenkopf, the chief executive of the chip maker Qualcomm, views the company’s recent patent dispute with Apple
and antitrust scrutiny from regulators worldwide as elaborate price negotiations.
But what has generally not changed is Qualcomm’s licensing formula — typically charging fees of about 5 percent of the wholesale
price of a phone, analysts say, even though its technology accounts for less of the value of many smartphone models.
That position has increasingly irritated big customers like Apple
and Samsung and contract manufacturers like Foxconn, which is Apple’s major supplier.
“He really understands that Qualcomm’s future depends on its ability to diversify beyond its core
smartphone heartland,” said Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS Insight, a technology research firm.