Reinventing the Millennium

Before the formal proceedings of the Supreme Court began, the arrogance of Yike, Apple and Qualcomm was already determined.

This was the first time that the public attended the hearing of the Qualcomm monopoly lawsuit.

Before this, because of Qualcomm's application, both the local court and the appellate court conducted closed trials, and once it was open, it was heard in the Supreme Court...

Listening to the lawyers' impassioned speeches and the piles of materials displayed, the audience felt that the confidence of the complainant was firm.

As for the facts, is Qualcomm a monopoly?

Brother, it's guaranteed.

At this point in the legal process, both Yike and Apple's lawyers believe that the nature of Qualcomm is very clear, but whether the final judgment can be achieved depends on how the nine justices present deliberate and decide.

It can only be said that no matter how solid the evidence submitted by Apple and Yike's lawyers is, if they believe that Qualcomm is not illegal, then it is not illegal, and if they vote for a monopoly by the majority, no matter what position Qualcomm has in the communications field and what influence it has on communications standards, it is a monopoly.

Lawyers cannot predict the results, they can only do every step they can.

This first step of oral debate...

Don't look at the reactions of the justices first, just look at the expressions of the audience and the frown of Qualcomm CEO Chen Fuyang, and it is natural to have a winner.

According to the process, the first to speak are the complaining parties, that is, Yi Ke and Apple, who specifically explain why the lower court's decision should be overturned or revised, followed by the defendant's response, explaining why the original decision should be upheld.

And this link usually takes one hour.

Regardless of the statements and answers of either party, the justices may interrupt at any time, ask their questions, and test the strength of the lawyers' arguments and the consistency of their logic.

In addition to the particularly firm positions they have already held, the nine votes of the nine justices may be affected by the questions they ask and the answers they get in the subsequent deliberations.

However, almost most people at the scene can see the pros and cons of both sides.

This is not entirely because of how powerful Yi Ke and Apple's lawyers are, but because the questions from the justices did not break out of the original rut.

Before the Supreme Court hearing, before the appeals court hearing, in the past ten years, Qualcomm has been investigated and tried for patent licensing and market monopoly.

When Apple and Yike's lawyers summarized and analyzed past cases, the questions asked by the justices were traceable.

The first public hearing of the giant lawsuit made people around whisper more and more as the process progressed, forcing the judge to pause several times to maintain order on the scene, while Chen Fuyang and Cook's expressions showed two extremes, one frowned all the time, and the other even smiled at the end.

The final trial of the communication giant did not receive any preferential treatment because of its market position. It officially started at 9 o'clock in the morning and ended at only 10:15.

The subsequent deliberations of the nine justices were handled behind closed doors, and it was likely that the final ruling would be unveiled when they pushed the process forward.

One hour and fifteen minutes.

This time was so fast that Chen Fuyang felt dazed when he got up and left. Would it be too hasty? He didn't even ask himself, the CEO...

He had made many mental drafts, but they were completely useless.

Reporters swarmed forward again, Cook was surrounded, Chen Fuyang was surrounded, and Schroeder was the least pursued by reporters because of his new position.

"Mr. Chen, what do you think of this trial?"

"Mr. Chen, are you still confident that Qualcomm will win?"

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen, why are you sweating?"

Chen Fuyang heard this in a trance, and subconsciously raised his hand to wipe the sweat. Such a rather embarrassing action was naturally captured by the reporters.

He quickly reacted, smiled again, and gave a positive response: "I believe everyone can realize Qualcomm's contribution to the communications field. We are just getting the compensation we should get under the business rules."

Cook, who was surrounded on the other side, was actually not far away from Chen Fuyang. He was about to answer the questions of the reporters on his side, but after hearing Chen Fuyang's voice, he said directly across the air: "Mr. Chen, the business rules have changed, so we should get new compensation under the new business rules."

"Qualcomm is the leader in the field of communications standards. I don't think the current business rules have changed as Apple imagined." Chen Fuyang immediately retorted.

"Mr. Chen, it is likely that it is not just the changes in business rules, but also the laws and regulations we must abide by." Cook's tone was not impatient, "Laws and regulations must also adapt to the development of the new market. I firmly believe this. Mr. Chen, do you also believe it?"

Chen Fuyang did not answer immediately this time.

When he wanted to answer, Cook had already given him this opportunity. He apologized and separated the crowd, and politely declined the entanglement of the media reporters.

Chen Fuyang's mood, which was already cloudy, was about to thunder and rain.

He held on to his spirits, reluctantly answered a few questions about Qualcomm, and was about to leave the scene.

"Mr. Chen, before you took office as CEO of Qualcomm, you once claimed that you could quickly resolve the dispute with Yike, but the current situation is obviously beyond your control. Does this have anything to do with Mr. Fang of Yike? Did he ever make a clear promise?" A reporter asked this question based on the previous and subsequent information.

Chen Fuyang turned his head to look at the source of the voice, forced a smile, and answered the last question: "Mr. Fang and I have no private commitment, but I may have underestimated Yike's determination. We could have handled it more harmoniously."

Underestimated?

"Little Fang Zhuo" seems to have underestimated the murderous intention of "Real Fang Zhuo" in this matter.

But at least, Qualcomm now has more businesses that can be integrated, and the original Avago is gradually integrating into the company, which is exactly what Chen Fuyang is good at.

The situation is a bit bad, but not that bad.

Chen Fuyang got rid of the reporters, and when he got into the car, he suddenly realized the decline in expectations in these days.

The situation is very good → the situation is not bad → the situation is a bit wrong → the situation is a bit bad...

It shouldn't be that bad.

Chen Fuyang became a little uncertain.

He resisted the urge to make a private call to Mr. Fang, knowing that it would not work at all at this time, and could only wait for the final result to come out in the falling stock price.

…

"Qualcomm's stock price didn't fall much."

As the Supreme Court's public process ended, Fang Zhuo, who was in Shanghai, noticed the impact of the secondary market.

"Not much, just a few billion, right?" Su Wei felt that President Fang was being sarcastic.

"I think everyone may be used to Qualcomm's decline. Now the 80 billion is still quite strong." Fang Zhuo was looking for reasons for not being able to expand the decline. He originally thought there would be a bigger plunge.

Su Wei asked: "When will this result come out? If the final ruling is unfavorable, won't Qualcomm's market value fall below 80 billion again? This is getting further and further away from the goal of forming a new Qualcomm."

The new Qualcomm formed by Qualcomm and Avago is believed by both its internal staff and the media to be a $100 billion company soon.

Unexpectedly, it may really be touched at the root. Once there is a problem with the patent licensing model, at least one-third of the revenue will be greatly affected.

"I don't know about that. They need to write an opinion letter, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month, or even until the middle of the year." Fang Zhuo shook his head.

The Qualcomm case is a very complicated one. The Supreme Court must ensure that the argument is rigorous and the reasons for the judgment can be fully explained. It takes time and has great uncertainty.

"That's good too. Let's have a good New Year." Su Wei likes the New Year more and more, and likes the joy of the big family more and more.

It's less than a week away from the Spring Festival. No matter what risks Yike and Bingxin face, no matter what kind of fierce attack Ali takes advantage of the situation, everyone's mood is gradually relaxing.

It's the New Year, so let's put everything else aside for the time being.

Fang Zhuo is the same. His work plan after the New Year is busy, so he took advantage of the New Year to get together with friends and chose the cruise party strongly recommended by Zhou Xin. The small circle talked about gains and losses and the foreseeable future.

Although Yike has faced uncertainty in the global market in the past six months, it has also been the most fruitful three months since its establishment. In addition, the visible decline of Duji and the circulation and expansion of the Yike system are all news worth smiling.

"The launch of Kesheng Mobile has been postponed. They are not having a smooth time using GlobalFoundries' chips. Brother Fang, I heard that Kesheng is considering switching to domestic SMIC technology." Zhou Xin is a person who does his job well and lives his life well, but he has also been paying close attention to the situation in the past few months.

"Who did you hear that from?" Fang Zhuo asked the source of the news.

"It's just a rumor. SMIC's stock price has been rising recently. I heard that it has made progress in 22nm." Zhou Xin said.

"It's more or less the same. SMIC is making rapid progress now. The technology research and development before 16nm is actually a more conventional idea." Fang Zhuo confirmed the news to a certain extent.

Zhou Xin lowered his voice: "Then can SMIC do OEM for Yike?"

"It depends on how fast it progresses. Well, SMIC's current development environment is better than Bingxin. It is now negotiating with ASML for equipment purchases. They are not restricted." Fang Zhuo replied.

Unlike Bingxin's restrictions on purchasing advanced equipment, SMIC's original license can still be used because it has a weak presence.

Fang Zhuo hoped that SMIC could buy the equipment, which could serve as a reference for the technical route, but there was a lot of uncertainty in this matter. ASML was unwilling to cooperate with Bingxin in in-depth R\u0026D, but it wanted to sell the products after it was made.

The demand for high-end equipment in the world is relatively narrow, Bingxin clearly cannot purchase it, and SMIC represents the demand of the mainland market, and its technology is not outstanding, so the two sides negotiated in a low-key manner.

Zhou Xin wanted to ask more questions when he saw Liu Zonghong walking over quickly and handed over the phone.

He consciously stepped away a few steps to leave room for Brother Fang to talk.

When Zhou Xin noticed that the call was over, he also saw the smile on Brother Fang's face.

"Six to three." Fang Zhuo simply said the information conveyed by this call.

On February 18, New Year's Eve, American friends conveyed the situation related to the final ruling in advance. The votes were much better than expected, and the scene of closed-door deliberation was almost overwhelming.

Qualcomm's market position and influence in the communications field were still taken into consideration.

However, Justice Anthony Kennedy believes that this issue is not enough to become a key bargaining chip because the market has changed.

"Without Qualcomm, there is Intel. Intel's baseband chips are no worse than Qualcomm's. In the long run, sufficient market competition will help this field to innovate more."

"Many people believe that protectionism will lead to long-term success, but history tells us that this is not the case."

"I don't think that protecting Qualcomm is the best option."

As a general representative of moderate conservatives, Anthony stood on the side of the liberals this time. Perhaps it was precisely because of his statement that when the final vote is over, he would write the majority opinion for the final verdict.

Although it has not been announced, the real winner has been decided. New Qualcomm needs to reconsider its patent licensing model and seriously comply with FRAND rules.

Fang Zhuo heard the description of the deliberation scene on the phone and was very happy to promote full market competition for New Qualcomm.

When the ruling is officially announced, it means that the scope of application of the Exhaustion Doctrine in the United States will be further expanded, which is quite symbolic.

The news from Qualcomm is like a New Year's gift, which made Fang Zhuo feel good for half of the night watching the Spring Festival Gala.

However, the remaining half of the night made him feel a little different with the arrival of another gift.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, Fang Zhuo received another call from a friend. Just like during the day, it was also an advance notice of a message - BIS has drafted and submitted a disposal plan for Bingxin, which will further restrict Bingxin's equipment procurement and technology introduction, and will also restrict some companies from providing services to Bingxin and some companies from accepting Bingxin's services.

Buy, sell, and cooperate.

The plan clearly mentioned Yi Ke's name, and a certain amount of time will be reserved for buffer.

In addition to the disposal plan for Bingxin, there is also an informal handling plan, which revolves around Yi Ke's cooperation with Bingxin, planning to force the end of Yi Ke's product orders with telecom operators, which means that Yi Ke is close to being kicked out of the US market, and will call on some companies to carefully consider cooperation with Yi Ke.

After listening to the notice on the other end of the phone, Fang Zhuo asked: "Both plans are illegal, right? Is this constitutional?"

"If necessary, new regulations may appear." The friend's attitude is relatively clear, just like... just like Qualcomm is facing new regulations today.

The person on the other end of the phone immediately emphasized: "This is just an informal contingency plan. It may not come into being and may change, but I strongly suggest that we should not expose such a plan to the public."

A contingency plan that may not come into being and may change, now appearing on the phone, is more like an ultimatum and a warning.