Qualcomm is facing a major setback as ARM, its chip architecture provider, has issued a 60-day notice to end their contract. This could disrupt Qualcomm’s plans for chips used in smartphones, laptops, cars, and more.
As a key customer of ARM, Qualcomm stands to lose a vital partnership. Even though Qualcomm’s new Oryon CPUs don’t use ARM cores, they still rely on ARM’s instruction set for hardware-software compatibility.
This issue started in 2022 when ARM sued Qualcomm for trademark infringement, accusing them of using ARM’s trademark without permission for Phoenix chips. Qualcomm’s next steps remain unclear, but some expect an out-of-court settlement before their court case in December.
Despite the legal challenges, Qualcomm recently launched its Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which will power premium Android devices in 2025. The chipset features Oryon CPUs and still uses ARM’s instruction set. One of the first phones to use it, the Xiaomi 15 series, is launching in China, with a global release expected soon.
This legal dispute puts Qualcomm in a challenging position as it looks to resolve the issue while advancing its chip technology.
