Qualcomm has announced a multi-year cross-licensing agreement with Huawei that will see Qualcomm pay Huawei for patent rights for the first time. The deal reverses a relationship that began in 2001, when Huawei took a royalty-bearing license from Qualcomm to build CDMA network equipment. The agreement covers 5G, AI, compute, and networking patents, and includes Qualcomm purchasing some of Huawei's U.S. patents outright, subject to regulatory approval.
The companies say the broad patent license reflects their commitment to fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) principles, and each credits the other's portfolio. No other business cooperation is involved, meaning no chip sales are included. The number of patents and the financial value were not disclosed. The deal follows a contentious history: Huawei halted royalty payments to Qualcomm in 2018, settled a back-royalty dispute in 2020, and the U.S. revoked Qualcomm's license to sell certain hardware to Huawei in 2024, with Huawei's license expiring in early 2025.
Huawei says the agreement pushes its total patent-licensing contract value above $6.9 billion, counting from its first licensing income from Motorola in 2011. Since 2021, its licensing business has brought in more than it pays other firms. Huawei has also enforced its patents in court, including a 2024 lawsuit against MediaTek. Qualcomm's fiscal year ended before the announcement, so the deal will not appear in its upcoming Q4 report.