Qualcomm delays earnings, cites Broadcom discussions

Qualcomm has delayed its second-quarter earnings statement because of advanced settlement discussions with Broadcom, the company said Wednesday.

Qualcomm is delaying its earnings statement until Monday due to discussions with Broadcom "regarding a global settlement of all disputes between the parties which, if reached, would have an impact on the Qualcomm's financial results for the fiscal second quarter," the company said.

Revenue and operating income for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, excluding the potential impact of the Broadcom agreement, met or exceeded prior guidance, Qualcomm said.

In related news, on March 16, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted Qualcomm's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Broadcom seeking a declaration that Qualcomm's patents are exhausted and unenforceable.

In that ruling, the U.S. District Court held that Broadcom failed to show it was entitled to declaratory relief because it did not identify any specific patents that were allegedly exhausted, or an exhaustion triggering sale or license, according to a Qualcomm statement. The court also ruled that Broadcom's purported injuries were too speculative to support the claims alleged.

Broadcom had argued that Qualcomm was unfairly limiting competition by putting onerous conditions in its patent licensing agreements. Qualcomm licensed its chipset patents to other chip suppliers with the stipulation that they must limit sales of their products to mobile handset makers that also have Qualcomm patent licenses.