Qualcomm, the giant processor chip manufacturer, could be in trouble due to a conflict with ARM, a key player in the tech industry. Let me explain why.
Chip manufacturers like Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, Apple, and Google source their core CPU designs from ARM. ARM provides the CPU development architecture and custom CPU core designs, licensing these to companies for use in their chipsets. Qualcomm has an Architecture License Agreement (ALA) with ARM, allowing them to use ARM-based CPU cores in their Snapdragon chipsets—a relationship that has lasted until the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
However, everything changed in 2021 when Qualcomm acquired Nuvia, a startup focused on high-performance CPU designs. Following the acquisition, ARM canceled Nuvia’s license agreement. Despite this, Qualcomm proceeded to manufacture the Snapdragon X Elite and the new Snapdragon 8 Elite processors.
Now, ARM is pushing back, aiming to cancel Qualcomm’s license entirely over the Nuvia dispute. ARM knows that Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon 8 Elite processors are expected to power millions of devices in the near future, and they want a share of the revenue. This conflict could have significant implications for Qualcomm and its position in the industry.
