carnegie

Mike Wuerthele said:

crowley said:

So they've only got a 30 day stay to make a fuller argument?  More of a delay than a win.  Good luck to them though.

They asked for 30 days. The court gave them until after the appeal was concluded.

Apple asked the Ninth Circuit for a stay pending appeal (i.e. until the Ninth Circuit issued its mandate) and for an administrative stay of 30 days. Apple wanted the administrative stay to give the Ninth Circuit time to decide on the stay pending appeal. Since the Ninth Circuit made its decision on the stay pending appeal before the December 9th deadline, it didn't need to issue the 30 day administrative stay. Apple had also asked for an extension of 30 days - beyond the 30 day administrative stay it asked for - if the Ninth Circuit denied Apple's request for a stay pending appeal, to give Apple time to seek Supreme Court review.

rmoo said:

blastdoor said:

For the other 80%, I wonder if Apple will need to pay Qualcomm some patent royalties. 

No, they won't. The royalties are for 3G, and AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are trying their level best to get the feds to finally allow them to shut their 3G networks down. Various medical and emergency alert entities that still use 3G - and some 2G - tech have thus far successfully petitioned the feds to prevent the mobile telcos from shutting them off, even though the telcos have warned them for like 10 years that the legacy services were going away, and they want to repurpose the spectrums and hardware to increase 5G coverage and begin preparations for 6G (plus the fact that they have longed ceased making money off 2G and 3G and are being forced by the feds to keep providing it at a loss). 

Even if the legacy network users are successful in forcing the telcos to keep 3G going, Google finally crossed the line in the sand by shipping the Pixel 6 with a Samsung Exynos modem, not a Qualcomm one. It is the first time a Samsung modem has ever been used in the United States, and it doesn't support the legacy networks. It only supports 4G and 5G. Meaning that neither Google or Samsung is paying Qualcomm royalties. Apple can certainly follow Google's precedent and make their own modems without 3G in 2023. That way, they wouldn't need to pay Qualcomm anything.

Apple is paying Qualcomm for more than just 3G patents. Qualcomm has other standards essential patents for, e.g., 4G and 5G, as well as patents in other areas. Even if Apple uses its own chips it has to pay Qualcomm for the use of that technology, and it has a licensing agreement in place with Qualcomm that covers such technology.

That said, even if U.S. cellular carriers stop supporting 3G soon, iPhones will likely continue to support it for a while. The latest iPhones still support 2G technologies.

blastdoor said:

For the other 80%, I wonder if Apple will need to pay Qualcomm some patent royalties. 

Yes. Even if Apple is using its own chips, it has to license the needed technology from those who have patented it - and that includes Qualcomm. Apple has a long-term licensing agreement with Qualcomm that covers cellular standards essential patents as well as other patents.

vesalius said:

Depends on his vesting schedule how long he can delay payment. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/tax/09/restricted-stock-tax.asp  The option to donate as of yet untaxed shares that have increased in value on paper also offers more tax advantages than donating already taxed salary. Can structure/choose to take less actual monetary salary in the years of RSU vesting decreasing other taxable income for that year. No such luck for anyone with a w2 income. 

These shares are as of yet untaxed because Mr. Cook hasn't received them. It's comparable to having an employment contract that says, conditions being met, you'll get paid some amount of money next year. You generally wound't be taxed on that future income until you earned and received it. Something might happen and you never get that income and, generally speaking, employment income is taxed when it's made rather than when it's contracted for or offered.

The salary Mr. Cook receives this year will be taxed as income for this year. The salary he receives next year will be taxed as income for next year. The same is true of equity compensation. He'll receive these shares in 2024, 2025, and 2026 if he's still employed by Apple and if, for some of them, certain performance targets are met. That's when he'll incur income tax liability for them - based on their value when he receives them. That doesn't representing avoiding taxes, it's how income taxes work - for most everyone, not just executives or those compensated through equity.

As for charitable donations... yes, people can sometimes avoid taxes on money (or value) they donate. But that's true whether they're receiving compensation in the form of equity or in cash. For income tax purposes, these equity awards are treated as though the recipient was paid cash in an amount equal to the value of the shares they receive on the day they receive them.

Mr. Cook received his annual RSU award a few days ago. The SEC filing was made yesterday.

As expected, it's the same as the previous years' award. It's for shares worth $37.5 million (at the time of the grant) that would vest in thirds in April 2024, April 2025, and April 2026. It also includes performance based shares with a target number that's worth $37.5 million (at the time of the grant) and that would vest in October 2024. Depending on Apple's stock performance, Mr. Cook could receive as much as twice the target number of shares.