Huawei and Qualcomm sign multi-year 5G and AI patent cross-licence, their first 5G deal
Huawei and Qualcomm announced a multi-year patent licence on 5 October that cross-licenses their 5G, compute, AI and networking portfolios, with Qualcomm also buying certain Huawei US patents. Financial terms were not disclosed and the deal awaits regulatory approval.
The details
- Huawei and Qualcomm announced a multi-year, broad patent licence agreement on 5 October 2026 in a shared press release, datelined Shenzhen, China in Huawei's version and Shenzhen, China and San Diego in Qualcomm's.
- The agreement includes cross-licences to each company's patent portfolio across technology fields including 5G, compute, AI and networking.
- As part of the deal, Qualcomm will purchase certain Huawei US patents in the areas of compute, AI, networking and other technologies.
- In an additional statement on 6 October, Qualcomm said the Huawei US patents it has agreed to buy are non-cellular, that the licence terms are confidential, and that reports describing Qualcomm as a net payer under the licence are incorrect.
- The transaction will close once the necessary regulatory approvals are received, and neither company has given a timeline for closing.
- The companies say the agreement reflects licensing practices consistent with fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) principles.
- GSMArena describes the agreement as the first 5G licensing deal between Huawei and Qualcomm.
- Neither company has disclosed the financial terms of the licence, the price Qualcomm will pay, or which Huawei patents it is buying.
- Citing Reuters, GSMArena reports that the total value of Huawei's patent licensing agreements will exceed $6.9 billion once this deal closes.
- Huawei's Chief Intellectual Property Officer, Alan Fan, cited the company's contributions to the 4G/5G standards, including signal transmission technology using polar codes.
- John Han, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing, said the agreement reaffirms industry recognition of Qualcomm's 5G technology leadership and the success of its 5G SEP licensing programme.
- Huawei has been under US trade restrictions since 2019; Android Headlines reports the deal does not change the rule that US companies need a licence to sell chips to Huawei, and GSMArena notes it is unclear how the US Commerce Department will view the agreement.
Why it matters
The deal adds Qualcomm to a list of companies that have signed cross-licences with Huawei, including vivo, Oppo and Ericsson. The Reuters figure of more than $6.9 billion in total licensing agreements shows how large Huawei's patent licensing has become while it operates under US trade restrictions that date from 2019. For Qualcomm, the deal adds certain non-cellular Huawei US patents in compute, AI, networking and other areas. However, the transaction still needs regulatory approval and does not change the US export restrictions on Huawei.