Qualcomm is first and foremost a technical innovator and promoter. Qualcomm spends a considerable part of its income on basic technology research and development, and provides almost all patented technologies to user equipment licensors and system equipment licensors of all sizes. Qualcomm's business model helps these system equipment and user equipment manufacturers to bring their products to market faster at a much lower cost than their own research and development technologies, chips and software solutions. In addition, Qualcomm also allows the licensee to use Qualcomm's increasing types of patented technologies in its authorized CDMA products, such as EV-DO Rev A, HSDPA/HSUPA, OFDM(A) and other new technologies, and the patent fee charged is not higher than the global CDMA patent fee in Qualcomm. This provides a predictable model for licensees in Qualcomm.
Qualcomm is building a foundation that other manufacturers can use for innovation and creating an environment that can reduce product costs. Qualcomm's patent licensing structure helps those manufacturers who do not produce GSM products or early analog mobile phones to invest in developing and selling CDMA2000 and WCDMA products. The emergence of these new vendors has brought market competition, reduced the cost that end users have to pay, promoted innovation by expanding richer functions and applications, and finally benefited consumers.