Transcript
Introduction
Matt
Welcome back to Business Breakdowns. Today, we are diving into InterDigital. Now InterDigital is one of those really interesting businesses that sits completely under the radar for most investors. If you're unfamiliar with the name, join the club, that was me prior to this episode. But InterDigital has the foundational technology, the foundational patented technology, which makes mobile phone communication and device-to-device communication possible. Everything revolving around 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, the Internet of Things, all of these devices in the world that are communicating with one another is underpinned by InterDigital's technology.
My guest is Jenny Wallace, Co-Founder of Summit Street Capital Management and Portfolio Manager of the U.S. Equity Value Fund. We get into the history of InterDigital. This business has been around for five decades and always focused on this area of technology. We talk about their patent portfolio, they have 30,000 patents and what that means. And one of the most interesting dynamics about this business is that they have to keep that strong balance sheet because when you have patents and when you have licenses, oftentimes, you need to enforce those patents.