H-P to License Camera-Phone Technology

The deal is the latest of roughly 300 IP deals inked by H-P's nearly four-year-old intellectual-property licensing group, which was created to turn the company's rich trove of patents and copyrights into new revenue streams.

H-P owns roughly 30,000 parents worldwide, and was the third-largest issuer of new patents in the U.S. in 2005, according to the company.

In April, H-P officials said the division has generated more than $200 million in value since its inception. The company defines value as including everything from licensing royalty revenue to product discounts garnered in exchange for licenses and relief from liability.

H-P officials declined to update that figure earlier this week, stating that the company is not providing financial information on the licensing division or the Flextronics deal.

How much of a royalty H-P will garner from each camera-phone module or how many units are envisioned in the five-year deal is unknown. According to H-P officials, Flextronics will license the software for camera modules that capture images at three megapixel quality and above, a segment that will account for anywhere between 5% and 13% of the more than 600 million camera phones expected to be shipped in 2007, according to various analyst estimates.

The company also wouldn't say whether the deal with Flextronics is exclusive.

Analysts expect H-P to earn 64 cents a share on sales of $24.1 billion when it reports third-quarter results Thursday.

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