Qualcomm’s patents inside almost every phone were paid for from orbit.
Before it owned the cellular age, Qualcomm sold OmniTRACS, a satellite system that tracked long-haul trucks and texted their drivers. By the end of 1989, half the young company’s $32 million in revenue came from one deal with trucking firm Schneider National — the cash that funded the wireless patents now in nearly every phone.
Qualcomm on Brandseum