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Huawei and Qualcomm Announce Broad Patent License Agreement

Huawei and Qualcomm Announce Broad Patent License Agreement

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Comments (67)

  • whatever1
    Remember when they were telling us how important the 5G race was and how critical was for the US to lead it?And now they are just giving it away ?
  • eunos
    It's not mentioned on Huawei page, but this bloomberg article claims that the focus in on LogicFolding architecture https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-05/qualcomm-...
  • rwmj
    Aren't Huawei on the Entity List? How can Qualcomm enter into agreements like this without getting into massive hot water?
  • hereme888
    Two patent thieves partner up.
  • maxglute
    How the turntables etc.Pre sanctions, HW fine buying QC for mobile chipset StandardEssentialPatentswhile QC pay HW for 5g SEPs, with net balance favoring QC. Huawei indigenized mobile SoC + 5g hardware with Kirin 9000 in 2023. Hilariously, now that Huawei weaned off QC SoC... QC simply stuck net paying Huawei.
  • zoobab
    Qualcomm is a patent troll, boycott.
  • quincy_jones
    Qualcomm doing sneaky stuff as usual. Nothing more
  • larodi
    ...potentially resulting in new AI-relevant chips.
  • alarak
    Haha next Nortel waiting to happen?
  • zoobab
    Cartels.
  • newsclues
  • ExpertAdvisor01
    "This transaction will close following receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals"
  • mirekrusin
    Patents serve cartels. Good luck for innovative startups trying to enter this rigged game.
  • MadrasTh0rn
    Thanks Trump
  • derin-picment
    This is less surprising if you view telecom patents as a mutual-assured-infringement system rather than a moat for any single company. As others noted, Qualcomm (~$5B/yr in licensing), Huawei, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia all hold overlapping SEPs for 5G — polar codes, massive MIMO, OFDM variants — so nobody can ship a compliant radio without infringing someone. Cross-licenses are the equilibrium: litigating everywhere Huawei actually sells (outside the US) would be ruinously expensive for Qualcomm, and Huawei needs Qualcomm's portfolio for handsets and IoT.The interesting questions for me: 1) what FRAND rate they settled on, since that becomes a comp for future deals with smaller OEMs who don't have a portfolio to trade, and 2) how Entity List / regulatory approvals shape the structure — the announcement says closing follows regulatory approvals, which suggests carve-outs around what's actually transferable vs. pure patent peace. For startups the takeaway is sobering: the "patent wall" effect mentioned here means you're licensing from an oligopoly whether you build infrastructure or devices.
  • soltanov
    Standard SEP mutual assured destruction.Neither company can ship modern cellular basebands or RAN silicon without stepping on the other's portfolio. FRAND terms make endless global litigation a negative-ROI exercise, Entity List or not. Cross-licensing is the only operational path to extract rents and lock third parties out.
  • alexx-devv
    [dead]
  • nickdothutton
    Ah yes, Huawei, that well known adherent to patent agreements.
  • WhereIsTheTruth
    This tells you that China:1. is no longer a threat for the US2. no longer has (perhaps never had), the lead3. was forced to bow down because has no leverageThe US still chooses what customers China has access to