During Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit 2024, it was reported that Arm has issued a notice stating that if Qualcomm does not resolve their dispute within 60 days, Arm will terminate the chip design architecture licensing agreement.
Qualcomm quickly responded with a statement, emphasizing that Arm's claim to terminate the contract has no basis and that Qualcomm's rights under its agreement with Arm will be upheld.
The PC supply chain revealed that the conflict between Qualcomm and Arm began in 2021 when Qualcomm acquired Nuvia, a company that had obtained a license from Arm in 2019. As the chances of a settlement decrease, this dispute could have a significant impact on the overall PC and smartphone markets, especially in the AI PC battle, where both sides may suffer and potentially withdraw from the competition.
Meanwhile, Intel and AMD, who had recently allied to confront mutual competitors like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and MediaTek, unexpectedly find themselves benefiting from this conflict, essentially winning without having to fight.
What exactly are Arm and Qualcomm fighting over? The dispute started in 2021 when Qualcomm acquired the startup Nuvia, which had obtained a license from Arm in 2019. Arm argues that Qualcomm cannot use the license held by Nuvia. In February 2023, Arm terminated Nuvia's license, and the legal battle between the two sides has since intensified, with neither willing to back down.
Recently, according to foreign media reports, Arm issued a 60-day ultimatum during Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit 2024, aiming to revoke Qualcomm's architecture patent license. It is estimated that if the two sides fail to reach a settlement by the deadline, Qualcomm could lose its Arm license, resulting in an annual loss of nearly $40 billion, and Arm would also suffer significant losses.
In response to Arm's increased pressure, Qualcomm issued a rebuttal, stating, "This is a typical move by Arm, attempting to pressure long-term partners through more unfounded accusations to interfere with our high-performing CPU products and raise royalties, ignoring the broad rights already covered in our architectural license agreement. As the court trial date in December approaches, it seems Arm is trying to disrupt the legal process through this desperate measure. Their claim to terminate the contract is completely unfounded. We are confident that Qualcomm's rights in its agreement with Arm will be confirmed. Arm's anti-competitive behavior will not be tolerated."
The PC supply chain noted that this lawsuit between Arm and Qualcomm could impact not only the global smartphone industry but also the PC market. Both companies were confident about dominating the AI trend in the Windows on Arm (WOA) platform to challenge the x86 platform and make a comeback in the mainstream PC market. Qualcomm launched the Copilot+ PC, powered by the Snapdragon X series, at COMPUTEX, declaring "The PC Reborn." Arm CEO Rene Haas even predicted that within five years, Arm would hold more than 50% of the market share in Windows systems.
However, the internal conflict within the same camp has caused brands that previously supported Qualcomm's push into the AI PC market to lose almost all interest in developing products on the Qualcomm platform, avoiding potential product infringement issues.
In fact, Microsoft revealed its WOA platform development plan in 2011 and launched the Windows RT version designed for the Arm architecture. However, due to various design flaws in Surface and Windows RT, the WOA plan ultimately failed, and major chip companies such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and TI quietly withdrew from the market.
Subsequently, Chromebooks gradually rose in popularity. With Google's support, Qualcomm and MediaTek, using the Arm architecture, successfully entered the Chromebook market. After accumulating strength, these two major manufacturers saw the rise of the AI era and launched plans to return to the mainstream PC market.
The PC supply chain pointed out that after Apple's successful development of its own chips, Qualcomm partnered with Microsoft and several major brands to enter the AI PC market by mid-2024. This momentum has pressured Intel and AMD. Intel has been countering with all its efforts, recently forming an "x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group" with AMD and several major tech companies to chart a new development course for the x86 instruction set architecture. This includes improving compatibility between different platforms and simplifying software development, aiming to further strengthen the x86 ecosystem.
However, the unresolved dispute between Qualcomm and Arm has unexpectedly handed an advantage to Intel and AMD, who now claim an initial victory even before the battle fully begins. The PC supply chain suggests that in this latest AI PC battle, even if Qualcomm and Arm do not exit, they are likely to be overwhelmed by Intel and AMD. Intel's latest Lunar Lake processor platform has completely eliminated the past disadvantage of the x86 platform's battery life compared to the Arm architecture.
The Qualcomm platform still faces compatibility issues, and many brand manufacturers are already optimistically predicting that the x86 camp will prevail. The risks arising from the Qualcomm-Arm lawsuit have only accelerated the decision-making process for PC manufacturers to shift towards the x86 platform for future projects.
Qualcomm quickly responded with a statement, emphasizing that Arm's claim to terminate the contract has no basis and that Qualcomm's rights under its agreement with Arm will be upheld.
The PC supply chain revealed that the conflict between Qualcomm and Arm began in 2021 when Qualcomm acquired Nuvia, a company that had obtained a license from Arm in 2019. As the chances of a settlement decrease, this dispute could have a significant impact on the overall PC and smartphone markets, especially in the AI PC battle, where both sides may suffer and potentially withdraw from the competition.
Meanwhile, Intel and AMD, who had recently allied to confront mutual competitors like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and MediaTek, unexpectedly find themselves benefiting from this conflict, essentially winning without having to fight.
What exactly are Arm and Qualcomm fighting over? The dispute started in 2021 when Qualcomm acquired the startup Nuvia, which had obtained a license from Arm in 2019. Arm argues that Qualcomm cannot use the license held by Nuvia. In February 2023, Arm terminated Nuvia's license, and the legal battle between the two sides has since intensified, with neither willing to back down.
Recently, according to foreign media reports, Arm issued a 60-day ultimatum during Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit 2024, aiming to revoke Qualcomm's architecture patent license. It is estimated that if the two sides fail to reach a settlement by the deadline, Qualcomm could lose its Arm license, resulting in an annual loss of nearly $40 billion, and Arm would also suffer significant losses.
In response to Arm's increased pressure, Qualcomm issued a rebuttal, stating, "This is a typical move by Arm, attempting to pressure long-term partners through more unfounded accusations to interfere with our high-performing CPU products and raise royalties, ignoring the broad rights already covered in our architectural license agreement. As the court trial date in December approaches, it seems Arm is trying to disrupt the legal process through this desperate measure. Their claim to terminate the contract is completely unfounded. We are confident that Qualcomm's rights in its agreement with Arm will be confirmed. Arm's anti-competitive behavior will not be tolerated."
The PC supply chain noted that this lawsuit between Arm and Qualcomm could impact not only the global smartphone industry but also the PC market. Both companies were confident about dominating the AI trend in the Windows on Arm (WOA) platform to challenge the x86 platform and make a comeback in the mainstream PC market. Qualcomm launched the Copilot+ PC, powered by the Snapdragon X series, at COMPUTEX, declaring "The PC Reborn." Arm CEO Rene Haas even predicted that within five years, Arm would hold more than 50% of the market share in Windows systems.
However, the internal conflict within the same camp has caused brands that previously supported Qualcomm's push into the AI PC market to lose almost all interest in developing products on the Qualcomm platform, avoiding potential product infringement issues.
In fact, Microsoft revealed its WOA platform development plan in 2011 and launched the Windows RT version designed for the Arm architecture. However, due to various design flaws in Surface and Windows RT, the WOA plan ultimately failed, and major chip companies such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and TI quietly withdrew from the market.
Subsequently, Chromebooks gradually rose in popularity. With Google's support, Qualcomm and MediaTek, using the Arm architecture, successfully entered the Chromebook market. After accumulating strength, these two major manufacturers saw the rise of the AI era and launched plans to return to the mainstream PC market.
The PC supply chain pointed out that after Apple's successful development of its own chips, Qualcomm partnered with Microsoft and several major brands to enter the AI PC market by mid-2024. This momentum has pressured Intel and AMD. Intel has been countering with all its efforts, recently forming an "x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group" with AMD and several major tech companies to chart a new development course for the x86 instruction set architecture. This includes improving compatibility between different platforms and simplifying software development, aiming to further strengthen the x86 ecosystem.
However, the unresolved dispute between Qualcomm and Arm has unexpectedly handed an advantage to Intel and AMD, who now claim an initial victory even before the battle fully begins. The PC supply chain suggests that in this latest AI PC battle, even if Qualcomm and Arm do not exit, they are likely to be overwhelmed by Intel and AMD. Intel's latest Lunar Lake processor platform has completely eliminated the past disadvantage of the x86 platform's battery life compared to the Arm architecture.
The Qualcomm platform still faces compatibility issues, and many brand manufacturers are already optimistically predicting that the x86 camp will prevail. The risks arising from the Qualcomm-Arm lawsuit have only accelerated the decision-making process for PC manufacturers to shift towards the x86 platform for future projects.
Arm、高通AI PC網內互打 英特爾、超微撿到槍 x86不戰而勝
特地選在高通（Qualcomm）Snapdragon Summit 2024年度大會期間，Arm傳出已發出通知，若高通60天內無法解決雙方糾紛，將終止晶片設計架構授權協議。
www.digitimes.com.tw
