Mannerisms

The US judge hearing the case was harsh on Qualcomm’s behaviour in concealing patents from a standards-setting body, and in delaying the disclosure of documents to the court.

Qualcomm’s been a hugely successful company, almost a top ten semiconductor company while still fabless, but people seem to have an aversion to it.

I’m reminded of an executive at one of the global wireless networks saying: “When I ask people here what they think of Qualcomm, they say: ‘We hate Qualcomm’.”

Why they’ve made such a bad name for themselves is uncertain. But I remember a Qualcomm executive who, if he didn’t like a question asked during an interview, would say nothing and just keep on doing his emails on his laptop.

Arrogance can breed a disregard for people, for law and for ethics.

“If ethics are poor at the top, that behaviour is copied down through the organisation”, according to Bob Noyce, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.