Qualcomm secures extension to global chip licensing pact with Apple

Sept 24 — Qualcomm said on Thursday Apple has extended its patent-licensing agreement ​with the chip designer, even as the iPhone maker looks to cut its reliance on the company's modem ‌chips.

The semiconductor company did not give a timeline for the latest move. The ⁠current agreement ends on March ​31, 2027, with an option ⁠to extend it by two years. Both Apple and ‌Qualcomm did not respond to ‌requests for comment.

Even though the deal keeps Apple tied ⁠to some of Qualcomm's patent ⁠portfolio, the chip designer had said in July that revenue from Apple products would decline faster than expected.

Qualcomm's licensing business accounted for roughly 15% of total revenue in the June quarter. The company had said it was banking on ‌growth in its data center business ​to offset the lost revenue from Apple in 2027.

In 2023, Qualcomm signed a deal with Apple to supply 5G chips until at least 2026, at a time when the iPhone maker was facing increased challenges in China and looked to shore up its supply chains elsewhere.

The partnership has ​been shaped by a 2019 settlement that ended a two-year global ‌legal battle over ‌wireless-patent ⁠royalties and modem-chip supply. They announced the truce in April 2019 as a U.S. jury trial between them was beginning in San Diego.

Under the settlement, Apple made an undisclosed payment to ‌Qualcomm, the companies dropped ​litigation worldwide and agreed to ‌a six-year global patent ⁠licensing deal ​from April 1, 2019.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Arun Koyyur)

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