Qualcomm 1999 Annual Report Download - page 8

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04
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS
After a decade of successful innovation, QUALCOMM continues to be one of
America’s fastest-growing companies. Wireless communication has proven
to be a very popular concept and we’re delivering products and services
that people really want. We are creating technology innovations embodied
in chips and are consistently delivering each new generation chipset on
schedule. This has enabled CDMA to become the fastest-growing tech-
nology in our industry.
QUALCOMM is the world leader in the development and sales of CDMA
chipsets and system software solutions. We achieved significant market
share, making QUALCOMM the second largest digital handset manufacturer
in North America. As the innovator of CDMA, we benefit from licensing and
royalty fees for any CDMA product sold by a licensee. There are now more
than 75 leading telecom manufacturers around the globe licensed to build
and sell products based on cdmaOne™ technology. In September, FORTUNE
magazine moved QUALCOMM up from the 74th position to number 16 on its
list of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies.
Growing Demand
Substantial growth has been driven by the recent acceleration of phone
shipments by QUALCOMM and its licensees to satisfy strong demand in
North America, Latin America, South Korea and Japan. Over 41 million
people worldwide subscribe to CDMA wireless telephone service today.
Not only has the number of subscribers been going up rapidly, but the
amount of minutes they use is on the rise as well. Thanks to increased
competition between wireless service providers, discounted rate plans
are bringing down the cost per minute that customers have to pay.
CDMA demand is growing rapidly around the world, and there was strong
evidence of that this year in Japan when the first nationwide all-digital
network rolled out in April of 1999. The country’s two major carriers, DDI
and IDO, joined forces to make the launch possible, and soon they will
merge, along with KDD, to form a unified carrier. They demanded strict
specifications for their phones, and QUALCOMM was first-to-market with the
chips that enabled Japanese handset manufacturers to surpass the specifi-
cations and facilitate an on-time launch of the national network. Consumer
advertising campaigns in Japan coined the term “super digital” to describe
CDMA capabilities.
This has been a year of transforma-
tion and success for our Company.
The digital wireless communications
technology we pioneered—CDMA—
has become a world standard for
mobile communications.
CDMA is used in cellular, PCS and
wireless local loop systems both
terrestrial and satellite-based.
More than 35 countries use our
technology, and we expect this
will expand as the next generation
of CDMA unfolds over the next
few years.
We had our first ever billion dollar
quarter and total annual revenues
of $3.9 billion. This year, our stock
performance and revenue growth
helped us gain entry to the S&P 500
Index and the 1999 FORTUNE 500®list.
Winning Ideas
Each one of our employees has con-
tributed to QUALCOMM’s continued
success in the global marketplace.
Our people are creative and innova-
tive thinkers who are applying
technology to enrich people’s lives.
As a result, today our Company holds
more than 350 U.S. patents with
about 800 more pending.