For more than 20 years, patent money between Qualcomm and Huawei has flowed mostly one way. In 2020 a settlement with Huawei added $1.8 billion to Qualcomm’s revenue in a single fiscal year. A deal announced on Monday appears to turn the current around.
The two companies said on 5 October that they had signed a multi-year agreement cross-licensing their portfolios across 5G, computing, AI and networking. It also includes Qualcomm’s purchase of certain Huawei patents registered in the United States. Neither side disclosed the price, the term or how many patents change hands.
TrendForce, citing reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg and Nikkei, says Qualcomm will pay to use more than 680 Huawei patents and becomes the net payer for the first time. Bloomberg’s reporting puts Huawei’s LogicFolding chip technology and co-packaged optics among the areas covered.
The official statements were balanced to the word. Alan Fan, Huawei’s chief intellectual property officer, said the agreement demonstrates the value of Huawei’s innovations while recognising Qualcomm’s foundational contributions. John Han, a Qualcomm executive vice president, said it reaffirms industry recognition of Qualcomm’s 5G leadership.
The politics are harder to balance. Huawei has been on the US entity list since 2019, which bars American firms from selling it advanced technology without a licence. A patent licence is not a chip, and paying for intellectual property is not an export. It is still an American chip designer sending money to Huawei for AI and computing know-how developed under sanctions.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, including a US antitrust review. The size of the payment is the missing number, and whether a government that blocks chips from reaching Huawei will let the dollars through is the open question.
