Qualcomm Pays Rival Huawei
For the first time ever, Qualcomm is paying to license and acquire technology from its Chinese rival Huawei. Here is what is driving this massive shift.
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Qualcomm is finally paying Huawei for its patents. This marks the first time the American chipmaker is paying to license and acquire technology from its Chinese rival.
The shift comes after a 2020 dispute where Huawei paid Qualcomm $1.8 billion. To build its massive portfolio, Huawei invested $28.7 billion into research in 2025.
Those efforts have driven Huawei's total patent licensing revenue past $6.9 billion since 2011. Now, their multi-year deal lets Qualcomm license and acquire Huawei US patents covering 5G, computing, and artificial intelligence.
