I think the Motorola deal wasn't just about the patents or about making a profit in device sales.
One source claims, for example, that "LG makes just a penny in profit per device – and established players like HTC are imploding, while dirt-cheap Android handset manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi are enjoying stratospheric rises".
For a company like Dell, it means that their per-device profit on popular devices like the Venue 8 Pro (8 inch tablet) just got better.
Chen Lifang, a member of Huawei's board, said this week that although "the majority of efforts" will go into equipment, which provides the bulk of the firm's revenues and profits, "the device is very important".Nevertheless, the handset-making business is clearer now that Microsoft has swallowed Nokia, which already makes more than 80% of Windows phones.
"An Amazon smartphone would be less about profiting from device sales per se, and more a way to pocket a larger share of multiple revenue streams, such as mobile retail sales, mobile content and advertising," said Cathy Boyle, senior analyst, mobile, at eMarketer.
Last year the San Francisco company dissolved its employee stock ownership planin a leveraged buyout, replacing it with a profit-sharing device it calls the Global Success Sharing Plan.
By contrast Apple has indicated in the past that it makes much of its profits from device sales while running its iTunes store "slightly above" break-even.
Other manufacturers are still looking to profit from devices, and while some are looking at the high-volume low-margin business (and the prospect of Nokia's former staff returning to this battlefield during 2017 is tempting), there is a continual fight to try to establish a high-volume high-priced handset.
But it will certainly be someone very rich, and generally someone who regards the team he owns as a profit-generating device with some ancillary basketball- and community-related interests.
The plaintiff in that case said the fee was "nothing more than a profit-generating device". The latest case was filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
