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Qualcomm's bad news traveling fast
I think a possibly worse issue than the H1-B visas is the potentially abusive use of foreign graduate students to do research directly related to industry needs. The system has evolved to where a PhD is now considered necessary for many jobs which only required a BS 20 years ago. Why? Have the jobs really gotten that much harder? Or is it that industry has figured out a way to get foreign graduate students to work long hours for several years for a 20K stipend?— November 8, 2015 12:37 p.m.
Qualcomm's bad news traveling fast
I personally think it happens quite a bit. For example, Broadcom was started based on work cofounders Henry Samueli and Henry Nicolas did for Nicolas's PhD work at UCLA. I don't have any data but from what I've heard from at least one professor the UC techonology transfer office isn't particularly aggressive at negotiating licensing revenue. I think the rationale is that allowing faculty to leverage their academic research in industry provides good incentives to recruit and retain top faculty members even if UC can't quite keep up with top private engineering school (Stan, Caltech, MIT) compensation. Also I think they rationalize that by allowing industry to have easy access to university research then it encourages more industry investment in UC. BRCM and QCOM's founders have donated a lot of money to UCLA, UCI, and UCSD - probably in the 100's of millions total. All 3 schools have a lot of buildings and schools of engineering named after them. All in all, I think there are a lot of big conflicts of interests for UC and for UC professors. I think in a lot of cases the taxpayer doesn't see as much of a return-on-investment as they should. But that's hard to quantify.— November 8, 2015 12:31 p.m.
Qualcomm's bad news traveling fast
I don't think Irwin Jacobs is a bad guy all things considered. He has given a lot to the symphony, UCSD, and others. QCOM does have it's faults but it's been a great boon to the SD economy overall. I'm not sure, however, that any one person should have any more right to throw political weight around than any one else.— November 7, 2015 3:57 p.m.
$2612 Hertz tab marks mayor's DC stay
$305 / day for a car rental? How is that even possible? I just looked on Orbitz and the most expensive daily rental from Reagan airport is about $208 / day. What did they rent - a Ferrari?— November 6, 2015 10:27 a.m.
Qualcomm's bad news traveling fast
Perhaps QCOM will unilaterally quit relying so much on H1B hiring and try to be a better corporate citizen towards U.S. workers. Of course, perhaps magical flying ponies will paint rainbows in the sky and bring us all magical treats from the land of Unicornia. I think those 2 things are about equally likely. I think QCOM will continue to hire whoever they feel are the best people for the lowest salaries that they can. H1B applicants tend to have a weaker negotiating position than citizens / green card holders so an H1B applicant will tend to be paid less than an equally qualified citizen / permanent resident. The H1-B visa hiring is only limited by the number of visas issued by the state department. It's not a well-known issue outside the technical community.— November 6, 2015 7:55 a.m.
Qualcomm's bad news traveling fast
The big long term question for QCOM will be the sustainability of its' licensing revenue model. There is at least a perception - especially in cost-sensitive China - that the way QCOM bundles and leverages its' technology isn't completely fair. I think their negotiations and legal battles are far from over. A lot of people don't like patent trolls (like the goofballs who sue every iPhone app maker in East Texas). Patent trolls abuse an outdated (IMO) patent system which rewards paperwork and legal moves over technical innovation. In some ways, QTL is basically the world's biggest patent troll.— November 6, 2015 6:26 a.m.
Qualcomm's bad news traveling fast
It seems QCOM has a lot of problems in China. I think QCOM and its' investors believed the agreement with China's NRDC would put an end to negotiation from OEMs such as ZTE and Huawei but apparently it has not. Also the Chinese economy has certainly been affected by the Shanghai index drop which doesn't help high-end smartphone sales.— November 6, 2015 6:16 a.m.
Creative lawyering punished
Has he been disbarred?— November 3, 2015 10:23 a.m.
Vericare admits submitting false claims
Or "Don't-care-about-truth"— November 1, 2015 4:01 p.m.
Vericare admits submitting false claims
Maybe they should re-brand as "Falsi-care"— November 1, 2015 1:12 p.m.