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In context: Qualcomm and Arm haven’t been on good terms for a while. The UK designer tried and ultimately failed to force the US chipmaker to stop using its IP. In it’s back-and-forth battle, Qualcomm is now complaining to antitrust authorities that Arm is trying to hamper worldwide competition.
Qualcomm recently had private meetings with three antitrust organizations about Arm’s alleged anticompetitive behavior. Anonymous sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that this new global antitrust campaign came after Arm tried restricting Qualcomm’s ability to build silicon products.
According to the insiders, Qualcomm met with representatives from the European Commission, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and the US FTC. The company alleges that Arm, a longtime partner in the mobile chip business, is restricting access to its microchip technology after running an “open network” of silicon IP for more than 20 years.
Also read: Arm vs Qualcomm: mutually assured destruction
Qualcomm claims that Arm built a successful business model by forcing chip companies to rely exclusively on its processor technology and that the mobile ecosystem thrived as a result. However, things are now much different than they were two decades ago. Arm is trying to manufacture and sell chips, eliminating the need to go through third-party manufacturers and designers such as Qualcomm.
In response, Arm provided Bloomberg with an official statement. The British corporation vows to respect its contractual obligations with its technology partners and refutes all allegations about its anticompetitive conduct. It claims that Qualcomm is desperately trying to create a competitive advantage by diverting attention from the two companies’ ongoing commercial disputes.
Earlier this year, Arm stopped trying to bar Qualcomm from using its intellectual property. The conflict originated from Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia, a chip startup with a previous licensing agreement with Arm. Qualcomm plans to include Nuvia’s Arm-compatible tech in future Snapdragon processors, but Arm claims Qualcomm cannot just take possession of Nuvia’s license without its approval.
Qualcomm raised its antitrust complaint last December when representatives from the company met with FTC officials in Washington, DC. During the meeting, Qualcomm accused Arm of withholding some unspecified technology that should have been available through the existing license agreement between the two companies. More recently, Qualcomm voiced the same complaint with European authorities, stating that Arm seeks to compete directly with its own chip instead of providing the chip tech to third parties. It has now expanded its antitrust campaign to Korea.
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