The growth of the streaming industry over the last decade has had a profound impact on the way we all consume video content from our favorite TV shows and movies, to a growing range of live sporting events and more.
At InterDigital, we’re proud of the way our foundational innovation has enabled an entirely new industry to take shape and has allowed consumers to enjoy an incredible range of new entertainment options. We believe passionately in the power of innovation to change the way we live and work.
InterDigital has a history of more than five decades of investing in foundational research in video and other related technologies. In recent years we have invested around half of our recurring revenues in our research and portfolio development.
Our innovation underpins the viability of the entire streaming industry which is forecast by third parties to generate more than $400 billion in revenue in 2025 across subscription and advertising supported platforms, and on social media.
Without our contributions in areas such as advanced video compression, it would take days to download your favorite shows, and the load of uncompressed data would severely strain the Internet.
Uncompressed, a 4K movie with a run time of 130 minutes translates to 11,600 GB of data. At modern internet download speeds, it would take over 4½ days to download that movie. Compressed, using the latest technology of which InterDigital is a leading contributor, it is reduced to approximately 14 GB, and can be downloaded in a matter of minutes. Without compression, we’d be back to a world of movie rental stores and DVDs by mail.
Our engineers have also invented new ways to enhance the user experience for consumers everywhere and to improve picture quality to help us all enjoy an experience akin to a movie theatre in our own homes.
With our technology, consumers can stream not only at home but also on the morning commute, as they wait for a flight home, and on a weekend away with friends.
Earlier today, we initiated enforcement activities against The Walt Disney Company over their ongoing infringement of InterDigital’s intellectual property.
Disney’s move into streaming has been one of the company’s recent success stories, helping it to build a business of more than 250 million paying subscribers across brands like Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu. With the help of our innovation, Disney has created a profitable business spread across its multiple platforms and, in its most recent financial results, reported annual revenue of around $25 billion from its streaming businesses.
As one of the world’s leading entertainment companies, Disney relies on the value of its intellectual property to protect the many popular brands in its movies, shows, and theme park experiences. This IP protection underpins Disney’s entire business model and enables it to keep investing in creating world-class content.
Much like Disney, InterDigital wants creativity and innovation to flourish and, much like Disney, we expect those who benefit from the use of our IP to pay for a license to it. Amicable negotiation is always our preferred path to signing new license agreements but, from time to time, enforcement is required to ensure we receive fair compensation for our groundbreaking research.
It is only by receiving fair compensation for the use of our technology that we can continue to invest in developing tomorrow’s technology today. For consumers and creators like Disney, the long-term success of the streaming industry depends on it.