Huawei and Qualcomm just signed a broad, multi-year cross-licensing agreement that covers 5G, compute, AI and networking technologies developed by the two companies. This is the first 5G licensing agreement between the two. As part of the deal, Qualcomm will buy several US patents from Huawei – they cover developments in compute, AI, networking and other technologies.
This deal is subject to regulatory approval and Huawei has been subject to trade restrictions by the US since 2019, so we’ll see how the US Commerce Department feels about this. The two companies came out with a shared press release that doesn’t put a monetary value on this deal. However, according to Reuters, after this deal closes, the total value of Huawei’s patent licensing agreements will go over $6.9 billion.
Of course, Huawei has had to build chipsets and develop other technologies for its smartphones that it previously bought from the likes of Qualcomm, which has meant an increase in R&D spending.
Source: GSMArena · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing