[Update] A spokesperson from Qualcomm has provided us with the following statement:
This is more of the same from ARM – more unfounded threats designed to strongarm a longtime partner, interfere with our performance-leading CPUs, and increase royalty rates regardless of the broad rights under our architecture license. With a trial fast approaching in December, Arm’s desperate ploy appears to be an attempt to disrupt the legal process, and its claim for termination is completely baseless. We are confident that Qualcomm’s rights under its agreement with Arm will be affirmed. Arm’s anticompetitive conduct will not be tolerated.
Original story below…
Qualcomm has commanded the media's spotlight this week as the Snapdragon Summit 2024 kicked off yesterday in Hawaii with the launch of the company's Snapdragon 8 Elite. Qualcomm's latest chipset introduces 2nd generation custom Oryon cores to its mobile platform, replacing Kryo with the Cortex-branded cores from ARM that it had used for several years now.
ARM and Qualcomm have worked closely together for many years but a major feud developed between the companies following Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia. ARM is now reportedly taking the drastic step of cancelling a longstanding licensing agreement that has enabled Qualcomm to use standards owned by ARM to make its own chipsets.
Qualcomm could be prevented from selling impacted chips to customers
ARM has given Qualcomm the required 60-day notice for the cancellation of their architectural license agreement, Bloomberg has reportedly seen this document. Unless resolved, this escalation would mean that Qualcomm will no longer be able to use ARM intellectual property to create its own chips. ARM is reportedly giving Qualcomm 60 days to remedy this dispute.
This could have significant repercussions as Qualcomm may need to stop selling products that use ARM IP for which the license has now been revoked. Qualcomm's chipsets are used in the vast majority of Android phones and other mobile devices. The company has also been making a significant push in chips for computing and automotive applications.
While Qualcomm's Oryon CPUs are designed in-house and don't use ARM cores, Qualcomm still pays ARM for its instruction set, a crucial interface between the hardware and the software. The first-generation Oryon CPU introduced with the Snapdragon X Elite last year utilized the ARMv8.7 instruction set.
The license cancellation is a significant escalation of the feud that began when ARM sued Qualcomm in 2022 following the latter's 2021 acquisition of chip design startup Nuvia. ARM's position is that Qualcomm failed to negotiate a new license after acquiring Nuvia, which prior to its acquisition had been designing server chips based on ARM licenses, but once the acquisition closed, its remaining team was reassigned by Qualcomm to develop what eventually became the Oryon CPU.
ARM claimed in its original suit that Qualcomm must destroy the Nuvia designs that were created before the acquisition as they can't be transferred to the San Diego-based company without permission. Qualcomm has maintained since the lawsuit was filed that it has broad, well-established license rights covering its custom-designed CPUs, and its positioned has not changed since.
Qualcomm is no stranger to legal battles so it would certainly utilize all legal avenues available to prevent an unfavorable outcome. It must be said, though, that ARM timing its reported notice of license cancellation to Qualcomm during the Snapdragon Summit 2024 could hardly be a coincidence. ARM has rained on Qualcomm's parade down in Maui's otherwise balmy and sunny forecast.
We've reached out to Qualcomm for a comment on the matter.
