B4| Wednesday, August 21, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
TECHNOLOGY WSJ.com/Tech
Qualcomm Inc. reached a
new patent-licensing deal with
LG Electronics Inc., securing
its technology in a suite of
wireless devices while federal
regulators continue to scruti-
nize its business practices on
antitrust grounds.
The San Diego chip maker
said Tuesday the five-year
agreement will allow South
Korea’s LG to develop and sell
3G, 4G and 5G single-mode
and multimode smartphones.
Although the deal’s financial
terms weren’t disclosed, Qual-
comm said it would earn roy-
alties from LG and that the
agreement is consistent with
its established global licensing
terms.
LG ranked as the ninth-larg-
est smartphone company
world-wide by shipments inthe first half of the year, with
2.4% of the market, according
to research firm IDC.
The deal is “a win for Qual-
comm because it locks up one
of the top 10 handset manu-
facturers in a more top-heavy
market,” IDC analyst Ryan Re-
ith said. “There are fewer and
fewer brands out there.”
The agreement is also sig-
nificant for LG because 5G
represents a growth opportu-
nity for smartphone makers,
as the technology enables
faster and more powerful con-
nectivity than ever before.
Qualcomm last year said its
newest chips were selected by
multiple smartphone compa-
nies including LG, which
launched its first 5G smart-
phone powered by Qualcomm’s
chips in May.
Ensuring U.S. companies
such as Qualcomm lead therace to adopt 5G has become a
priority of the Trump adminis-
tration in recent months, as it
looks to ward off competition
from China.
Representatives for Qual-
comm and LG declined to com-
ment beyond the news release.
Qualcomm’s deal with LG
comes after a federal judge in
May ruled that Qualcomm had
unlawfully stifled competition
in the market for wireless
chips. The ruling followed a
Federal Trade Commission in-
vestigation into Qualcomm’s
practices of demanding licens-
ing agreements from compa-
nies purchasing its chips for
use in wireless devices, and its
refusal to issue licenses to
other chip makers seeking to
field competitive products.
Qualcomm has appealed the
ruling.
LG was among companiesthat during the FTC’s case
called Qualcomm’s practices
anticompetitive.
LG’s licensing agreement
with Qualcomm expired on
Dec. 31, but the two parties
had continued talks through
this year on a new pact, ac-
cording to court documents
filedbyLG.
The agreement with LG also
comes months after Qualcomm
settled a bruising patent-liti-
gation fight with Apple Inc.
that lasted more than two
years and was costly in terms
of legal fees and lost business.
In that case, Qualcomm
claimed Apple violated its pat-
ents by withholding royalty
payments, while Apple argued
Qualcomm had been over-
charging for those patents for
years.
Qualcomm shares rose 1.6%
Tuesday.BYSARAHE.NEEDLEMANQualcomm Strikes Deal With LG
For Latest Smartphone Technology
members. Snap Inc.’s Snapchat
allows anyone to request the
removal of an account with
proof the user has died.
“Death reminds us how
young social media is,” said
Jed Brubaker, an assistant
professor at the University of
Colorado Boulder who studies
social media. “As it grows up,
and it’s in the process right
now, we talk about policies
and regulations, things that
should be considered that we
didn’t know to consider 10
years ago.”
Mr. Brubaker helped design
Facebook’s memorialized pro-
files and legacy contacts and
still is paid by the company
for research and advice.
Microsoft Corp. acquired
LinkedIn in 2016 and bills it as
the “world’s largest profes-
sional network on the inter-
net.” That may make profiles
of deceased users an odd fit,
but the LinkedIn spokes-woman said the memorializing
feature it is developing comes
in response to extensive cus-
tomer requests.
Some LinkedIn users have
taken matters into their own
hands. Before Taula Bier-
nacki’s husband, Alex, died in
2017, he gave her his email
password, which allowed her
to log in to his LinkedIn ac-
count. “I was kind of lost
when I was trying to decide
how to go about dealing with
his social media...I feel like
this is something that most
people don’t consider until af-
ter their loved one has
passed,” Ms. Biernacki said.
Instead of deleting his page,
she changed the description to
say “Passed Away 11/2/17” and
shared details about his death
in a post where acquaintances
could express their condolences.For social-media compa-
nies, grappling with how to
handle digital legacies of users
who have died has increas-
ingly become a balancing act
between respecting the wishes
of those left behind and not
turning their sites into digital
graveyards that may upset
other users.
Most platforms have a pol-
icy of deleting accounts when
they are notified that the user
has died. Relatives typically
have to provide a death certif-
icate or other proof, such as
an obituary link, for the ac-
count to be taken down.
But many relatives want to
hang on to those online pro-
files as a way to remember
their family members.
LinkedIn is developing a
memorializing profile option
that should be available next
year, a company spokeswoman
said. The company would al-
low profiles to remain, though
make it clear the user is de-
ceased.
Facebook Inc. struggled
with the issue for years before
deciding in 2015 to allow users
to designate someone their
digital heir with the right to
manage parts of their account
posthumously.
The cyber inheritance
comes with strings attached.
The person’s responsibilities
include moderating the tribute
section and accepting friend
requests, but the contact can’t
look at the person’s messages
or post as the person. Users
also can choose to have their
account deleted after they die.
Facebook in April said that
more than 30 million people
view memorialized profiles ev-
ery month. The company now
has hundreds of thousands of
such profiles, a spokeswoman
said.
Instagram, owned by Face-
book, provides a similar op-
tion. Photos and videos remain
visible, but wouldn’t appear in
general searches, the company
said.
Twitter will delete an ac-
count upon request by familyBYABIGAILSUMMERVILLESocial Media Tackle
Accounts After Death
LinkedIn is
developing a
memorializing
profile option.The San Diego chip maker said the pact allows LG to develop and sell 3G, 4G and 5G single-mode and multimode smartphones.JOHN FRANCIS PETERS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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