Qualcomm accused its longtime partner, Arm Holdings, of unfair business practices. It has filed complaints with regulators in the US, Europe and South Korea. Qualcomm claims that Arm is restricting access to its technology and changing licensing models, which could harm competition. Arm denies these allegations.
Informed sources say that Qualcomm has secretly filed complaints against Arm with the European Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the South Korean Fair Trade Commission. Qualcomm claims that Arm’s open licensing policy has contributed to the creation of a strong hardware and software ecosystem. However, this approach is now under threat as Arm tries to limit access to its technology to benefit its own chip design business. We are talking about reference designs for computing subsystems (CSS) for client and server processors, as well as the creation of custom chips based on CSS for large customers
Qualcomm has communicated its position to the antitrust authorities behind closed doors and through formal filings, so the company is not commenting on the situation publicly at this time. In response, Arm said it remains committed to innovation, competition, and fulfilling its contractual obligations. The company believes that Qualcomm’s actions are an attempt to shift the focus away from the broader commercial conflict between the two companies and use regulatory pressure to its advantage.
Qualcomm’s accusations coincide with its arguments in a recent court case against Arm in Delaware. Qualcomm won that case: the court ruled that the company did not violate the terms of its license and technology use agreement when it acquired Nuvia company and used its designs in its Snapdragon X processors for PCs. Arm, in turn, said it plans to appeal.
Qualcomm probably wants to guarantee its access to Arm’s instruction set and technologies by filing complaints with antitrust authorities.
According to Bloomberg, even before the Delaware court ruling, Qualcomm filed a formal complaint with EU regulators, claiming that Arm is trying to restrict access to licenses while competing directly in the market. Arm has acknowledged receipt of the complaint and is preparing a response. In addition, Qualcomm met with FTC representatives in Washington, D.C., and then made similar claims to the South Korean regulator. Among the violations that Qualcomm attributes to Arm are restrictions on access to technology and violations of existing agreements.
«Arm is focused on developing innovation, maintaining competition, and honoring its contractual obligations. Any accusations of anticompetitive behavior — are nothing more than a desperate attempt by Qualcomm to divert attention from the merits of the case and expand their commercial conflict to their own advantage. We are confident that Arm will ultimately emerge victorious in this dispute,» said an Arm spokesperson.
Source: tomshardware
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: