It was driven primarily by bands and artists desperate to share their own IP freely to build their brands.

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He maintains above-consensus estimate for 2011, 2012 and 2013, reflecting share gains in IP routing and sustained growth in the U.S. wireless equipment market.

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Spangenberg declined to share any numbers about the revenue of his vast IP enforcement operation.

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The latest sharp increase is absolutely a big deal for shareholders because in 2009, IP had slashed the dividend by 90% to 10 cents a share due to the economic downturn.

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Apart from controlling mountings costs, the restructuring plan aims to diversify AMD beyond the PC market and target other adjacent markets, including dense serving, new embedded markets and lower-power form factors, where its IP provides differentiation and a better opportunity for it to grow its share.

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