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Blackberry comes out of the desert as it wins $815mln from Qualcomm

Last updated: 15:53 12 Apr 2017 BST, First published: 10:53 12 Apr 2017 BST

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The arbitration case started last April

Blackberry Ltd (NASDAQ: BBRY), the mobile phone giant, stepped out of the shadows on Wednesday, to reveal it had been awarded an eye popping $814.9mln following arbitration.

It is the settlement of a case against Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) for royalty overpayments.

A fifth of Blackberry's market cap..

The reward figure represents around 20%, a fifth of Blackberry's US market cap, so we are not talking small beer here.

Unsurprisingly, shares surged almost 18% in early deals.

Qualcomm shares are down 2.14% at the time of writing at $54.17 and down 15% in the year to date.

Blackberry, once a smartphone darling, has had well documented struggles in recent years as it battles to keep up in a rapidly evolving and growing mobile landscape.

It was in April last year that the pair entered the arbitration over whether Qualcomm's agreement to cap certain royalties applied to payments made by BlackBerry under a license agreement between the parties.

Blackberry chief executive John Chen said today: "BlackBerry and Qualcomm have a longstanding relationship and continue to be valued technology partners."

One time 'has been'..

In December last year, so called technology 'has-been' Blackberry posted a surprise profit in its third quarter.

And at the end of last month it saw fourth-quarter earnings come in slightly above expectations despite a decline in revenue as its switches focus to beef-up its software business.

The Canadian group posted a net loss of US$47mln, or 9 US cents a share in the quarter to February 28.

A year earlier, the company reported a loss of US$238mln, or 45 US cents a share.

BlackBerry‘s adjusted quarterly earnings per share was 4 US cents, above forecasts for it to be break-even.

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