Qualcomm announced that its global patent licensing agreement with Apple will be renewed starting April 1, 2027. John Han, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL), expressed his pleasure at extending the licensing agreement with Apple.
Qualcomm did not provide specific terms of the new licensing agreement, including duration, rates, and other financial details. Qualcomm's brief statement has drawn attention due to Apple's progress on its in-house baseband project. Given that the statement did not mention chip supply issues, it is highly likely that the cooperation between the two parties is shifting towards patent licensing.
Qualcomm and Apple ended their two-year global patent litigation in 2019, reaching a settlement in which Apple paid a fee to Qualcomm and signed a six-year global patent licensing agreement effective from April 1, 2019, along with a multi-year supply agreement that included a two-year extension option. Later, Qualcomm signed a new supply agreement with Apple to provide 5G modems for iPhone models from 2024 to 2026.
Early last year, Apple launched the iPhone 16e, featuring the all-new Apple C1. The C1 is Apple's first self-designed cellular modem, providing 5G network connectivity. Similar to how the M-series replaced Intel x86 processors, Apple aims to gradually replace Qualcomm's previous solutions with its C-series basebands. By the latest iPhone 18 Pro series, it has iterated to the Apple C2.
Due to a significant decrease in procurement volume in recent years, Qualcomm expects revenue related to Apple to decline rapidly and plans to offset this impact by increasing income from non-mobile businesses such as automotive and data centers.