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Asiainfo-Linkage, (FRA:AFB) Intangible Assets : €190.9 Mil (As of Sep. 2013)


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What is Asiainfo-Linkage, Intangible Assets?

Intangible assets are defined as identifiable non-monetary assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured. Asiainfo-Linkage,'s intangible assets for the quarter that ended in Sep. 2013 was €190.9 Mil.


Asiainfo-Linkage, Intangible Assets Historical Data

The historical data trend for Asiainfo-Linkage,'s Intangible Assets can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

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Asiainfo-Linkage, Intangible Assets Chart

Asiainfo-Linkage, Annual Data
Trend Dec03 Dec04 Dec05 Dec06 Dec07 Dec08 Dec09 Dec10 Dec11 Dec12
Intangible Assets
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 17.56 17.89 485.93 464.03 433.48

Asiainfo-Linkage, Quarterly Data
Dec08 Mar09 Jun09 Sep09 Dec09 Mar10 Jun10 Sep10 Dec10 Mar11 Jun11 Sep11 Dec11 Mar12 Jun12 Sep12 Dec12 Mar13 Jun13 Sep13
Intangible Assets Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 449.78 433.48 431.97 198.38 190.93

Asiainfo-Linkage, Intangible Assets Calculation

Intangible assets are defined as identifiable non-monetary assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured. Examples of intangible assets include trade secrets, copyrights, patents, trademarks. If a company acquires assets at the prices above the book value, it may carry goodwill on its balance sheet. Goodwill reflects the difference between the price the company paid and the book value of the assets.


Asiainfo-Linkage,  (FRA:AFB) Intangible Assets Explanation

If a company (company A) received a patent through their own work, though it has value, it does not show up on its balance sheet as an intangible asset. However, if company A sells this patent to company B, it will show up on company B's balance sheet as an intangible asset.

The same applies to brand names, trade secrets etc. For instance, Coca-Cola's brand is extremely valuable, but the brand does not appear on its balance sheet, because the brand was never acquired.

Some intangibles are amortized. Amortization is the depreciation of intangible assets.

Many intangibles are not amortized. They may still be written down when the company decides the asset is impaired.

Whenever you see an increase in goodwill over a number of years, you can assume it's because the company is out buying other businesses above book value. GOOD if buying businesses with durable competitive advantage.

If goodwill stays the same, the company when acquiring other companies is either paying less than book value or not acquiring. Businesses with moats never sell for less than book value.

Intangibles acquired are on balance sheet at fair value.

Internally developed brand names (Coke, Wrigleys, Band-Aid) however are not reflected on the balance sheet.

One of the reasons competitive advantage power can remain hidden for so long.


Be Aware

Companies may change the way intangible assets are amortized, and this will affect their reported earnings.


Asiainfo-Linkage, Intangible Assets Related Terms

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Asiainfo-Linkage, (FRA:AFB) Business Description

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Asiainfo-Linkage, Inc, a Delaware corporation, commenced operations in the United States in 1993. The Company is a provider of telecommunications software solutions and information technology, or IT, related services in China. It also provides variety of services including business operational consulting service, IT architecture planning service, system integration services based on its own products and other third party software and hardware, change of request implementation, maintenance on customer premise and management services. The Company's suite of innovative solutions includes business and operation support systems, network infrastructure solutions, and service application solutions. The products and services it offers to the telecommunications industry include various software product suites, most of which are designed with open architecture to facilitate further development and customization for specific purposes. The Company's core BSS/OSS offering primarily includes convergent billing solutions, CRM and BI systems. It also provides software enhancement and maintenance services for the systems it develop, as well as system integration and other value-added IT consulting and planning services. Its OSS Package is a highly comprehensive and intelligent service fulfilment framework based on OSS fulfilment domain definition in eTOM model and OSS specifications of telecom operators. In OSS Package, process analysis methodology and project implementation methodology enables a rapid implementation of telecom service fulfilment system. It provides process analysis methodology, project implementation methodology, inventory data model, interface integration framework and built-in inventory management templates. Its network management solutions include network access and backbone infrastructure planning, design and implementation for telecommunications and Internet service providers. These services include technical training for its customers, as well as professional maintenance and support services. The Company designs and provides a series of service applications that enable telecommunications operators and service providers to offer value-added services, such as Short Message Service, or SMS, mobile email, mobile entertainment and mobile e-commerce. These applications often involve licensed third-party software that it's customizes or integrate with its proprietary software to provide individualized solutions. The Company's software and services enable its customers to build, maintain, operate, manage and improve their communications infrastructure. Its largest customers are the major telecommunications carriers in China and their provincial subsidiaries, including China Mobile Communications Corporation, or China Mobile, China United Telecommunications Corporation, or China Unicom, and China Telecommunications Corporation, or China Telecom. The Company relies on its own sales force to market and sell its products and services