Odd that they state that "For handsets sold in China, Qualcomm will charge a licensing rate that’s similar to the royalty rates it charges elsewhere in the world, countering concerns that it would be forced to offer a discount to settle the investigation."
And then immediately follow with "While the percentage being charged is similar, the value of the handsets -- used as the basis for the calculation -- will be assessed at 65 percent of the device’s total price for phones sold in China, Qualcomm said."
If read right, that means Qualcomm is forced to effectively discount licensing fees in China based on this decision, meaning the Chinese government has engaged in a bit of price-fixing relative to the rest of the world on the patent fees.
I would love to have this clarified by someone who knows more about patent royalties. It's possible that you're right and they're essentially discounting their fees by 35%, but it's also possible that there is a difference between the OEM sales price and the net sales price that this royalty applies to.
Not quite before and not now. Before, they forced bundling in China, as they do in a few other countries. Now, Qualcomm must unbundle the basic 3G and 4G patents and charge the same rates in China. But, a fair and level playground wasn't quite good enough, so the Chinese government has forced Qualcomm to value the Chinese handsets at 65% of the actual value which is used to calculate the amount of the patent fee per unit, effectively giving Chinese companies a discount compared to everywhere else in the world. So this verdict forces some price fixing in favor of Chinese companies vs the rest of the world. Plus a billion dollars to the Chinese government.
And then immediately follow with "While the percentage being charged is similar, the value of the handsets -- used as the basis for the calculation -- will be assessed at 65 percent of the device’s total price for phones sold in China, Qualcomm said."
If read right, that means Qualcomm is forced to effectively discount licensing fees in China based on this decision, meaning the Chinese government has engaged in a bit of price-fixing relative to the rest of the world on the patent fees.