Microsoft sues Motorola over Xbox royalty
Microsoft Corp. has sued Motorola Inc. claiming that Motorola is charging excessive royalties on network technology used in Microsoft’s Xbox game system.
According to Microsoft, it has filed a case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, arguing that Motorola breached its commitments to standards organizations to license patents related to wireless and video coding technologies under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions.
As per the company, Motorola demanded royalties that are excessive and discriminatory, and asked the court for compensation from Motorola.
It was Microsoft’s second lawsuit against Motorola in a little over a month.
Last month, the software giant filed a suit against Motorola for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola’s Android-based smartphones.
Nokia carries Symbian
Smartphone OS provider Symbian says 12.3m units running its software shipped in the second quarter of the year, up from 7.8m a year ago. This bagged the company $37.9m in royalty revenues, the bulk of its $41.2m gross revenue.
Despite delays to several of the most anticipated models from Nokia and Sony Ericsson, 24m units shipped in the first half of the year, up 65 per cent from a year ago.
Royalties account for most of Symbian’s revenue – partnering and consultancy revenues fell sequentially. Symbian is privately held and the company doesn’t disclose its profits.
Earlier this year, Symbian’s CFO said the company was comfortably in profit, and that $80m annual revenue represents break even. So by our calculations, the company is on course to clear more than $40m in profit this year.
Overall, 55 models are in development, down one from the start of the year. Ninety-two per cent of 3G smartphones are Symbian devices, the company adds.
Symbian has Nokia and the Japanese manufacturers to thank for its growth. Four manufacturers including Sony Ericsson produce FOMA devices for the Japanese market, the rest are all from Nokia. Symbian included Sony Ericsson’s M600i [Reg Hardware Review], and Nokia’s E60 and E70 as devices that shipped in Q2, although you’ll have been very fortunate to find any of these before 30 June.
It’s the last quarterly statement before Symbian’s new, lower royalty option becomes available. So far manufacturers have paid $7.25 per unit for the first two million units shipped, and $5 per unit after that. The new royalty schedule permits phone makers to take Symbian OS for $2.50 – without Java – or two per cent of the trade price (Nokia’s average selling price per phone is a shade over $100).
Symbian’s average royalty per unit rose again in the quarter to $5.7 per unit, up from $5.3 a year ago. ®
Source- http://www.theregister.co.uk
