On July 12, it was reported that chip giant Qualcomm was suing Transsion Holdings Group for infringement of four non-standard basic patents in the Delhi High Court in India.

Subsequently, the reporter of "Daily Economic News" contacted Qualcomm and Transsion Holdings (688036. SH, share price 79.33 yuan, market value 89.579 billion yuan) to understand the situation. On the evening of July 12, Transsion Holdings responded to reporters: "Transsion respects the intellectual property rights of third parties, and is willing to follow the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination, and reach an intellectual property license agreement with the patentee through friendly negotiation." We have signed a 5G standard patent license agreement with Qualcomm and are in the process of fulfilling that agreement. ”

At the same time, TRANSSION also said: "The company's sales network covers more than 70 countries in emerging markets such as Africa and South Asia. In these countries, some patentees do not own or only have a small number of patents, but demand excessively high royalties at a globally harmonized rate, without taking into account factors such as differences in the level of economic development in different regions, no patents or only a small number of patents in a particular region or market, and the existence of existing precedents that offer different rates in different regions. We believe that the practices of some patent owners do not fully comply with the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination. In the mobile phone industry, intellectual property litigation is frequent. In the course of their business, domestic and foreign mobile phone manufacturers have faced or are facing intellectual property lawsuits. TRANSSION will continue to negotiate patents with third parties, respect the intellectual property rights of others, and promote the determination of reasonable licensing fees under the framework of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination, so as to achieve a win-win situation for the entire industry chain, including patentees and licensees, and better meet the needs of consumers in emerging markets. ”

The reporter noted that Qualcomm said in a statement that for nearly a decade, Qualcomm's patent licensing business in China has been following the rectification plan it submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission of China in 2015 and agreed by the National Development and Reform Commission. However, despite Qualcomm's unremitting efforts over the past few years, Transsion has refused to obtain a full license from Qualcomm. Transsion recently signed a license agreement with Qualcomm for some of its products, but the vast majority of its products have not been licensed by Qualcomm and are still infringing on Qualcomm's valuable patent portfolio. Through this lawsuit, Qualcomm seeks to restore and maintain a level playing field for all of its licensees.

According to public information, Transsion Holdings was established in 2013 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, mainly engaged in the design, research and development, production, sales and brand operation of smart terminals with mobile phones as the core; The main products are mobile phones of the three major brands of TECNO (mid-to-high-end brand), itel and Infinix (mass brand), including feature phones and smartphones. Transsion once accounted for 57% of the African market, so it was known as the "King of Africa". In terms of the latest market share, according to IDC data, the company's share of the African smartphone market will exceed 40% in 2023, although the high point has declined, but it still ranks first in Africa.

After its success in the African market, Transsion has begun to expand into other emerging markets in recent years, including India. The company's 2023 annual report quoted IDC as saying that the company's smartphone market share in India in 2023 was 8.2%, ranking sixth. In addition, the company has also set up factories in Ethiopia, India, Bangladesh and other places, on the one hand, it can quickly respond to market demand, and on the other hand, it has also driven the construction of local employment and production facilities.

In terms of performance, Transsion Holdings will achieve revenue of 62.295 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 33.69%, and a net profit attributable to the parent company of 5.537 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 122.93%. In the first quarter of this year, Transsion achieved revenue of 17.443 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 88.1%; net profit was 1.626 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 210.3%.