Oppo, one of the leaders in the smartphone business, has signed a multi-year global patent cross license agreement with Ericsson.
Oppo, a smartphone vendor with sales in global markets, and significant presence in developing countries, will make royalty payments to Ericsson. The telecom equipment maker did not reveal the financial details of the deal with Oppo.
The latest IDC report says Oppo has shipped 25.8 million smartphones during the second quarter of 2024, grabbing 9 percent share.
According to Canalys report, Oppo had 8 percent share in the global smartphone market in Q1 2024. Oppo is the fifth largest smartphone brand in the world.
Ericsson said this agreement includes a cross license covering patents essential to standards for cellular technologies, including 5G.
Ericsson earlier said it is on track to deliver the SEK 12-13 billion IPR revenue target for 2024. Ericsson has achieved gross margin of 43.9 percent (38.3 percent) in Q2 2024 supported by higher IPR licensing revenue. Ericsson’s gross income increased to SEK 26.3 billion from 24.7 billion driven by strong gross margin expansion.
Oppo and Ericsson will conduct business cooperation on a number of projects related to 5G, including device testing, customer engagements and marketing activities, in addition to a cross license.
Christina Petersson, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson, says: “This important royalty bearing license agreement with Oppo allows Ericsson to invest in fundamental communications technologies. The license confirms that the patent licensing industry works and is proof that a vast majority of license agreements are based on business negotiations.”
“It also reflects the mutual respect for each other’s patent portfolio. We now look forward to growing Ericsson’s IPR revenues with additional 5G agreements and expansion into additional licensing areas, such as IoT and consumer electronics,” Christina Petersson said.
This agreement is in line with global practice where companies that provide products using cellular 3GPP standards such as 5G need a license agreement with patent holders in order not to infringe these patents, and also for patent holders to be compensated for their R&D investment.
The value of Ericsson’s patent portfolio of more than 60,000 patents is strengthened by its leading position as 5G vendor, its leading 5G patent portfolio and annual investments of more than SEK 45 billion in R&D.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
