Qualcomm is Losing its Chip Design License From ARM

Qualcomm is facing a significant setback in its chip design. ARM, the company that licenses its chip architecture, has reportedly sent Qualcomm a 60-day notice to terminate its contract. This could significantly impact Qualcomm’s plans for chips used in smartphones, laptops, cars, and other devices.

Qualcomm is a major customer of ARM, and ending the partnership would hurt both companies. Even Qualcomm’s newer chips, like Oryon, rely on ARM’s instruction set, which helps hardware and software work together. However, Qualcomm’s newer Oryon CPUs no longer use ARM cores.

The current problem started in 2022 when ARM sued Qualcomm over trademark infringement. ARM accused Qualcomm of breaking their agreement and using their trademark without permission to make custom Phoenix chips.

It’s unclear what Qualcomm will do next. They may try to settle with ARM before their court case in Delaware in December, though some think they might reach an out-of-court agreement.

Qualcomm’s latest release is the Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship chipset, which will be used in nearly every other premium Android smartphone in 2025. This also uses Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU, which does not rely on ARM cores, but does work with ARM’s instruction set.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite will be featured in several smartphones some of which are launching this month including the Xiaomi 15 series, which is only launching in China for now. It should arrive in the global market a few months later.