Chip wars escalate: Qualcomm accuses Arm of unfair tactics

Intensifying a legal feud it has with Snapdragon maker Qualcomm, Arm plans to cancel Qualcomm’s architectural license agreement. Qualcomm has now commented on Arm’s intent to terminate the license.

For context, it was earlier reported that Arm sent Qualcomm a 60-day notice of cancelation regarding its architectural license agreement. This agreement is what allows Qualcomm to design chips based on Arm’s technology, such as the Snapdragon chips found in most Android phones. As you can imagine, such a move could cause a serious disruption in Qualcomm’s business.

In a statement to Android Authority, a Qualcomm spokesperson had this to say about the situation:

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.

Much of what’s going on here stems from a dispute back in 2022. Arm filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm in 2022 after Qualcomm acquired a company called Nuvia in 2021. In the lawsuit, Arm accused the two of breaching contract terms, claiming that Nuvia’s chip designs used Arm licenses that Qualcomm tried to transfer over during its acquisition.

Arm’s decision to cancel Qualcomm’s license won’t just hurt Qualcomm, it could impact the smartphone market as a whole. Keep in mind that many Android phones use Snapdragon SoCs.