①Nov Inc. stated that it has reached a settlement with China on all disputes and has entered into cross-licensing agreements on certain patents in China. ②As of press time, Anhua High has not commented on this matter. ③Industry insiders interviewed stated that the core founders and R&D team of Nov Inc. have already left, and whether they can return to the mainstream commercial market is still a question.
The recently-released settlement declaration has attracted great attention from the semiconductor industry and A-share investors.
Yesterday (July 3), NUO Microsystems (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. (referred to as "NUO Micro") announced on its official WeChat account that it has reached a settlement with Broadcom Limited (referred to as "Broadcom") on all disputes. Both parties have withdrawn and terminated lawsuits against each other or their affiliated companies and customers, and have reached cross-licensing agreements on some Chinese patents. Since NUO Micro was accused of stealing technology trade secrets in 2015, a whole nine years have passed until now.
NUO Micro's official announcement.
Affected by this news, tianjin jingwei huikai optoelectronic, NUO Micro's second largest shareholder, saw its stock rise 20cm yesterday (July 3) and briefly rose more than 7% after opening this morning.
After the release of the settlement announcement, some of NUO Micro's venture investors immediately accepted interviews with investment institutions, saying that NUO Micro now has the value of being acquired, and tianjin jingwei huikai optoelectronic will become the winner of the settlement based on its previous investment.
However, some industry insiders told the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" that "start-up companies in the bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter field have grown in strength in recent years, and NUO Micro's original R&D team has already left. Even with the settlement, it remains a question whether they can return to the mainstream commercial market after losing a decade of golden development period."
Yesterday (July 3), a reporter from the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" called NUO Micro's public phone number on its official website several times, but did not receive an answer.
The industry is concerned: What concessions did NUO Micro make to reach a settlement?
Since 2015, when NUO Micro was charged with stealing business secrets from an American technology company, this chip company, which was once seen as the "leader of domestic filter manufacturers," has missed the golden period of the domestic filter industry's growth with the growth of domestic mobile phones over the past ten years.
NUO Micro's announcement yesterday (July 3) means that, in the eyes of many people, a satisfactory conclusion has been reached for the above dispute and all unhappiness can be left behind.
However, as of the time of this publication, the so-called "settlement" between NUO Micro and Broadcom is still a one-sided statement from NUO Micro. Neither Broadcom nor tianjin jingwei huikai optoelectronic has made any statement on the matter.
Several domestic filter manufacturer personnel who are engaged in R&D told the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" that Broadcom's announcement and statement are more meaningful for understanding the event.
Some investors who have long been concerned about domestic filter manufacturers further stated to the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" that there are still many details to the so-called 'settlement' that have not been disclosed, and that 'some key details may determine whether NUO Micro can carry out the domestication and development of its core BAW products again and compete positively with Broadcom'.
NUO Micro's products have already left the mainstream commercial market, and whether they can start anew is a question.
According to a filter chip company executive, since NUO Micro founder Zhang Hao had trouble, the company's original core R&D and sales teams have left due to internal conflict. It is understood that many members of NUO Micro's R&D team have joined other start-up filter chip companies in the industry.
In 2021, NUO Micro completed nearly 0.4 billion yuan of equity financing, with investment from CITIC Securities and Haihe Industrial Fund. At that time, NUO Micro founder Zhang Hao had just been imprisoned for one year of his sentence of 18 months.
According to business registration information, NUO Micro's largest shareholder is CITIC Securities, which holds a 33.28% stake, followed by A-share listed company tianjin jingwei huikai optoelectronic (300120.SZ), which holds a 9.19% stake.
Zhang Hao has since quit NUO Micro's list of shareholders in August 2021. NUO Micro's other core founder, Pang Wei, who was also a colleague of Zhang Hao's in the United States, still holds a 6.68% stake, ranking fifth in the shareholder list.
Pang Wei is more core than Zhang Hao in the team, and was the initiator of NUO Micro's projects. However, Pang Wei has actually left NUO Micro at present. An industry source told the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" that "the details of the so-called 'settlement' still have a great impact, and whether NUO Micro can carry out the domestication and development of its core BAW products again and compete positively with Broadcom will depend on some key details."
Many people view NUO Micro's announcement yesterday (July 3) as a satisfactory conclusion to the above dispute and they can leave all unhappiness behind. However, as of the time of this publication, the so-called "settlement" between NUO Micro and Broadcom Limited is still a one-sided statement from NUO Micro. Neither Broadcom nor tianjin jingwei huikai optoelectronic has made any statement on the matter.
According to the research report of Head Leopard Research Institute, filter chip is widely used in multiple fields such as communication equipment, auto manufacturing, and consumer electronics. Among them, smart phones as the main downstream application field of filter films account for more than 80%. Industry insiders estimate that this proportion can even reach 95% domestically.
A market leader in the filter chip industry told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily newspaper, 'Novmicro has developed well in these fields based on the performance and quality of its technical products. However, due to the low ceiling of the industry, it is difficult to form a large-scale industrial advantage and compete with domestic competitors.'
However, the market leader of the above-mentioned filter chip company stated that if Nov Micro and Nov Inc achieve a settlement agreement, it will be a good thing for the domestic filter chip industry and help to promote the positive development of the domestic acoustic wave filter industry.
'Because of this patent dispute, other companies in the industry have been somewhat intimidated by acoustic wave technology and technology, resulting in less research and development and market investment in the race.' The above-mentioned person said that if the two parties reach a settlement, more acoustic wave filter (BAW) design companies or manufacturers can see hope.
'The Novmicro and Broadcom lawsuit has been going on for almost 10 years, and the industry situation has changed a lot, and it is time to end it.' a senior practitioner in the filter chip field told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily newspaper. Ten years ago, Broadcom's BAW market share was 90%. Now, overseas companies such as Qualcomm, Qorvo, and Skyworks have BAW products, and many domestic manufacturers have also achieved industrialization. 'It is no longer a monopoly.'
According to the insider, BAW has a history of more than 25 years from the first productization to today, and international patents are valid for 20 years. 'After the patent expires, it can be used globally. Although it is not considered innovative, it is not a patent infringement.' The above-mentioned person in the filter product field said, 'The international expired patent pool plus the independent patent pool have given late-comers many opportunities to participate in competition.'