Not unreasonable that WD would be entitled to a discount on any...

Not unreasonable that WD would be entitled to a discount on any licence relative to competitors, given WD's joint collaboration since 2014

If WD entered into a non-exclusive licence, would be instant validation of tech and other parties would be lining up to licence the tech.  However, likely that WD would not want others to have and would therefore seek to buy 4ds outright; or

Alternatively, other player(s) wouldn't want WD to own outright and would seek to acquire 4ds (and access to all the key personnel/knowhow), but knowing that WD could still choose to use under licence.

Scope for a big payday (billions) under either scenario.  Agree with AM27's earlier post from today that interest from other parties is what will drive value.  Thus a smart move to develop the tech at imec (with all the industry players aware, watching and waiting), rather than at WD.