InterDigital CEO Calls Company an "Engine" in Telecom Industry
Liren Chen, CEO & President of InterDigital (IDCC), says his company has "one of the most profitable portfolios" in the industry.
President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Interdigital
Search every verified Lawrence Chen interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote โ each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2024 interview, InterDigital CEO Liren Chen described the company as an independent research firm focused on fundamental technology in wireless radio and artificial intelligence. He stated that InterDigital has "one of the most valuable portfolios" in the industry and derives the vast majority of its revenue through IP licensing. Chen noted that the company invests about half of its recurring revenue into R&D and builds partnerships with universities and other companies. He highlighted long-term licensing agreements with major customers including Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Google, and said a recent renewal with Apple extends through 2029. Chen also discussed InterDigital's role in contributing technology to open standards for cellular technology, including 5G and future 6G, and noted that the company's AI lab in Silicon Valley works on using AI to solve fundamental problems in wireless and video. He promoted an upcoming Investor Day in New York, scheduled for September 10, 2024, which he said would be his first since joining the company three and a half years ago, and would include a deeper dive into the business and a long-term growth roadmap.
“InterDigital is an independent research company. We focus on fundamental technology in wireless radio and artificial intelligence. So we create the technology. As you mentioned, we have a very large patent portfolio, but it's also one of the most valuable portfolios in our industry.”
“We derive vast majority of revenue through IP license. It's an interesting business model that seems pretty unique in terms of publicly traded companies: research patents and then the licensing. So a lot of your revenue looks to me like it's recurring. Is that right? It's absolutely right, Oliver. So one of the real st...”
“Google has been a licensee for InterDigital for a while. They had a license with us for 4G technology, which is one of the cellular technologies, and we have negotiated with them. We added 5G, and we also added radio in terms of video codec technology and Wi-Fi technology. In addition, we broadened the scope of their p...”
“We come up with the fundamental technology and we apply patent to protect our technology. But another really important aspect of our business is we actually share our technology through open standard. Our engineers are well-respected in our industry. So we lead the standard development. So our part of our technology be...”
Liren Chen, CEO & President of InterDigital (IDCC), says his company has "one of the most profitable portfolios" in the industry.
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