Apple, Nokia and Qualcomm are considering bids to buy InterDigital (http://www.interdigital.com), a wireelss telecommunications specialist, reports "Reuters" (http://macte.ch/ggCJz), quoting unnamed sources. The auction of the company will apparently be postponed from next week until after Labor Day.

InterDigital, which has a market value of about US$3 billion, develops fundamental wireless technologies that are at the core of mobile devices, networks, and services worldwide. The company says its solutions "support more efficient wireless networks, a richer multimedia experience, and new mobile broadband capabilities."

For its fiscal second quarter of 2011, InterDigital reports revenue of $69.9 million. The company has net income of $17.2 million, or $0.37 per diluted share and ending cash and short-term investments totaling $702.1 million.

"Our second quarter 2011 results reflect a number of factors," says William Merritt, InterDigital's president and CEO. "On the revenue side, we continued to see strong smartphone sales royalties from our key customers, offset by the expected decline in royalties from our Japanese customers, which is anticipated to be temporary, and a decline in our fixed fee royalties resulting from the expiration of our agreement with LG, with whom we continue to be in license renewal discussions. The expense side showed continued discipline in managing our costs even though our intellectual property enforcement costs increased in the quarter as a result of the recently filed ITC action. We ended the quarter with a very strong cash balance and continued optimism about the future prospects for the company."

InterDigital's portfolio includes some 8,800 granted patents and nearly 10,000 patent applications. Last month the company said it had hired Evercore Partners and Barclays Capital to consider strategic alternatives for the company, a move that included a sale of the company itself.

-- Dennis Sellers