Qualcomm 2012 Annual Report Download - page 8

We also generate revenues by licensing portions of our intellectual property portfolio, which includes certain patent rights essential to and/or
useful in the manufacture and sale of certain wireless products.
Our Integrated Circuits Business. We develop and supply integrated circuits and system software based on CDMA, OFDMA and other
technologies for use in voice and data communications, networking, application processing, multimedia and global positioning system products.
Our integrated circuit products and system software are sold to and/or licensed to manufacturers that use our products in wireless devices,
particularly mobile phones, tablets, laptops, data modules, handheld wireless computers and gaming devices, access points and routers, data
cards and infrastructure equipment, and in wired devices, particularly broadband gateway equipment, desktop computers, televisions and Blu-
ray
players. The Mobile Station Modem (MSM) integrated circuits, which include the Mobile Data Modem, Qualcomm Single Chip and Qualcomm
Snapdragon processor-based devices, perform the core baseband modem functionality in wireless devices providing voice and data
communications, as well as multimedia applications and global positioning functions. In addition, our Snapdragon processors provide advanced
application and graphics processing capabilities. Our system software enables the other device components to interface with the integrated circuit
products and is the foundation software enabling manufacturers to develop devices utilizing the functionality within the integrated circuits. Our
infrastructure equipment Cell Site Modem (CSM) integrated circuits and system software perform wireless standards-compliant processing of
voice and data signals in the wireless operator’
s base station equipment to and from wireless devices. Because of our experience in designing and
developing CDMA- and OFDMA-based products, we not only design the baseband integrated circuit, but the supporting system as well,
including the RF devices, PM devices and accompanying software products. This approach enables us to optimize the performance of the
wireless device with improved product features and integration with the network system. We also provide support, including reference designs
and tools, to enable our customers to reduce the time required to design their products and bring their products to market faster. We plan to add
additional features and capabilities to our integrated circuit products to help our customers reduce the cost and size of their products, to simplify
our customers’ design processes and to enable more wireless devices and services.
Our Licensing Business. Our patent portfolio includes certain patent rights essential to and/or useful in the manufacture and sale of certain
wireless products. We grant licenses to use portions of our intellectual property portfolio to manufacturers of wireless pro ducts, such as mobile
devices, also known as subscriber units, which include handsets, other consumer devices (e.g., tablets, personal computers, e-readers), machine-
to-machine devices (e.g., telematics devices, meter reading devices) and data modem cards, the infrastructure equipment required to establish
and operate a network, and equipment to test networks and subscriber units. In partial consideration for such licenses, we collect fixed license
fees (payable in one or more installments) and ongoing royalties on products sold by our licensees that incorporate our patented technologies.
Our Asset Tracking and Services Business. We design, manufacture and sell equipment, license software and provide services to our
customers to manage their assets, products and workforce. We offer satellite- and terrestrial-based two-way wireless information and position
location services to transportation and logistics fleets to enable our customers to track the location and monitor the performance of their assets
and to deliver and collect data with their personnel.
Our Wireless Device Software and Related Services Business. We provide software products and services for the global wireless industry.
Our Brew products and services enable wireless operators, device manufacturers and software developers to provide over-the-air and pre-loaded
wireless applications and services. Our Plaza products and services enable wireless operators, device manufacturers and publishers to create and
distribute mobile content across a variety of platforms and devices. We also offer Xiam wireless content discovery and recommendation
products to help wireless operators improve usage and adoption of digital content and services and QChat, a push to talk product optimized for
third generation (3G) networks.
Our Mobile Commerce Business . In fiscal 2012, we began a pilot of a new product application trademarked as Pay, which is marketed on a
standalone basis to quick serve restaurants and retailers. The Pay service enables consumers to make payments to quick serve restaurants and
retailers on their mobile devices at the point of sale.
Our Other Businesses. We continue to invest in display and other product and services initiatives. We intend to license our next generation
interferometric modulator (IMOD) display technology in the future, while we continue to develop and directly commercialize only certain
IMOD consumer-targeted mobile products. Our IMOD display technology, based on a micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) structure
combined with thin film optics, is intended to provide performance and power consumption benefits as compared to other display technologies.
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• equipment, software and services used by companies, including those in the transportation industry and governments, to wirelessly
manage their assets and workforce;
•
software products and services for content enablement across a wide variety of platforms and devices for the wireless industry;
•
software products and services that enable mobile commerce services; and
•
software and hardware development services.