Verizon and Broadcom play nice, Qualcomm quietly cries in corner

Verizon and Broadcom came to an agreement on further use of Qualcomm's chips inside Verizon's handsets.  The deal will cost Verizon $6 / handset, translating to about $200 million.  That $200 million might seem like a lot, but to 3G giant Verizon, whose marketing relies almost exclusively on "the network" and VCast, that $200 million could have multiplied exponentially had the ITC's ban of Qualcomm chips gone through.

Qualcomm had seen Verizon as its biggest ally, but with this deal, it puts Qualcomm in a tight spot.  The New York Times says Broadcom offered Qualcomm a similar deal last month, and Qualcomm rejected the offer.  Qualcomm continues to roll the dice while Verizon cut it's losses, and now doesn't care what happens with the upcoming appeals ruling. 

[Via BGR]