Qualcomm Asserts In-House Oryon Cores Utilize Under 1% ARM Technology in Ongoing Legal Proceedings

Qualcomm has recently unveiled its Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chipsets, which mark the company’s inaugural foray into custom silicon via its proprietary Oryon cores. This strategic initiative mirrors Apple’s approach of creating technology without relying on external partners, although it has sparked a legal confrontation with ARM. The dispute centers around the extent to which ARM’s technology has been integrated into Qualcomm’s new chips. During a federal court trial in Delaware, a former Apple executive revealed that less than one percent of the Snapdragon X Elite’s silicon utilizes ARM’s proprietary technology.

How Qualcomm’s Oryon Cores Came to Be: The Nuvia Acquisition

The establishment of Qualcomm’s custom Oryon cores was facilitated by its acquisition of Nuvia, a company founded by Gerard Williams, a former Apple engineer, in 2019. Nuvia was committed to developing solutions with minimal dependency on ARM’s intellectual property. During the recent trial, legal representatives from both Qualcomm and ARM scrutinized Williams regarding the potential integration of ARM technology into Nuvia’s designs.

As reported by Tom’s Hardware, ARM’s legal counsel pressed Williams to concede that ARM’s licensing agreements influenced Nuvia’s technology. Williams asserted that the incorporation of ARM technology in the Oryon cores stood at less than one percent.

The Financial Implications and Licensing Disputes

In 2021, Qualcomm acquired Nuvia for an impressive $1.4 billion, hoping to enhance its chip development capabilities to compete more effectively against industry leaders such as Apple, Intel, and AMD. However, tensions escalated after ARM requested a renegotiation of licensing terms, which Qualcomm declined, citing its Architecture License Agreement (ALA) as covering Nuvia’s work. ARM alleged that Qualcomm violated this agreement and subsequently initiated legal proceedings aimed at nullifying all designs related to Nuvia.

Financial analysts have indicated that Qualcomm’s annual licensing payments to ARM approximate $300 million. However, evidence presented during the trial suggested that Qualcomm has suffered a shortfall of $50 million in yearly revenue since acquiring Nuvia. The trial proceedings are expected to culminate soon, with the possibility of Qualcomm CEO Christiano Amon taking the witness stand as a jury verdict approaches this week.

For more details, visit the news source: Reuters.

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