Now, we would not want to extend any morality-play analogy too far, but it’s interesting to note two events in the corporate world taking place early Nov. 9. First, Samsung has tightened its relationship with Qualcomm Inc. by signing a 15-year patent cross-licensing deal that will result in $1.3 billion in net payments to Qualcomm for the use of at least 57 patents. While most of these patents involve 3G and 4G smartphone devices, some are generic enough to apply in smartbook realms. Qualcomm gets to make use of Samsung patents as well.
Korean leaders in the smartbook market, including Samsung and LG, will be critical players in smartbook markets, though they will admittedly face broader competition from the base of PC ODMs in China and other Asian nations. But Qualcomm realized long before the smartbook concept began, that relationships with key Korea consumer-electronics giants were critical.
For a nice contrapuntal piece, check out the interview Digitimes conducted with Mike Nash, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Windows platform strategy. Nash took the unnecessary and possibly risky step of explicitly ruling out a Windows 7 port to ARM processors. The message behind the lines here is that the problem is not an abiding prejudice Microsoft maintains against ARM, but an existing relationship with a certain large microprocessor manufacturer.
We recognize that few companies want to bet against Intel Corp. in any product category, but we’ve stressed in the past that Intel makes plenty of mistakes in realms such as optical communications and embedded controllers. If one is forced into an unwanted monogamy that limits options, maybe it’s time to find new friends. Qualcomm and its OEM partners play their hands in a wide fashion, with as many non-exclusive deals as possible. Maybe Microsoft can lift some pointers from the Qualcomm-Samsung playbook, before it’s painted into an Intel corner that limits the spread of Windows 7.
Loring
