Xperi Holdings Corp. has revealed plans to separate its intellectual property business from its core technology products operation.
Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner told equity analysts during his company's Q4 earnings call on Wednesday that it plans to "separate" its IP unit this fall.
Xperi has already started the process of rebranding its IP operation, putting it under the moniker of "Adeia." (It's a term dating back to ancient Greece and seems to have been used by foreigners, slaves or any non native Athenians to ask for permission to accuse someone of something. All we can say is, it better not show up in Wordle.)
TiVo, which became a patent troll of import in 2016 when it was acquired for $1.1 billion by Rovi Corp., announced plans to spin off its IP business in April 2020, under the leadership of Dave Shull.
TiVo instead pivoted to a $3 billion deal to be acquired by Xperi, a company vested in technologies including car audio. The deal created a portfolio of more than 10,000 technology patents, along with the heft needed to end a long-running IP dispute with Comcast in Q4 2020.
IP generated $391.2 million for Xperi in 2021, which was around 45% of the company's total revenue. The company said it has made close to $9 billion on enforcing tech patents in the last decade.
As TiVo found out, however, it makes it harder to partner with technology companies on the product side when you're simultaneously shaking them down in court over patents.
Notably, on Thursday, Xperi put out its first IP deal release using its new Adeia brand, noting a new deal to license "hybrid bonding" semiconductor tech to Micron Technology.
The new "About Adeia" language: "Adeia invents, develops and licenses fundamental innovations that shape the way millions of people explore and experience entertainment and enhance billions of devices in an increasingly connected world. From TVs to smartphones, in almost any place, and across all types of entertainment experiences, from Pay-TV to OTT, Adeia’s technologies allow users to manage content and connections in a way that is smart, immersive and personal."
Beyond the IP separation announcement, Xperi also said it continues to actively carve out the deals it needs to expand its TiVo Stream 4K operating system beyond its current confines of a niche HDMI dongle.
"This is our fastest growing category and we are focused on partnerships with TV OEMs, chipset partners and content providers to bring the first TVs powered by TiVo Stream OS in 2023 or 2024," Kirchner said.
