In a recent arbitration decision, Qualcomm was forced to refund $814.9 million to BlackBerry for royalties it collected on smartphones that never got sold.
BlackBerry signed a license agreement with Qualcomm in 2010, allowing Qualcomm to collect royalties in advance on Blackberry smartphones which utilized Qualcomm technologies. BlackBerry has since then pulled out of the smartphone market due to massive losses, which meant that it did not meet the expected sales numbers.
Despite the original contract stating that the deal is non-refundable, the arbitrator decided that BlackBerry should be refunded for royalty paid on unsold smartphones. Qualcomm expressed objections towards the decision however, has to adhere to the binding decision. In a press announcement, BlackBerry’s CEO, John Chen, stressed that this decision did not weaken its partnership with Qualcomm.
Source: CNBC
