Qualcomm asks a jury to let it stop paying Arm royalties for five years

Qualcomm asks to stop paying Arm for five years

Qualcomm and Arm opened a five-day jury trial in Wilmington, Delaware↗, on October 5, with Qualcomm asking for the right to stop paying royalties to Arm for up to five years, a remedy potentially worth billions ¹. Judge Maryellen Noreika is weighing whether to throw that term of the contract out first, which would leave Qualcomm chasing a smaller claim ¹². A parallel bench trial asks whether Arm negotiated in good faith over version 10 of its architecture, under an agreement that runs to 2033 ¹.

A $1.88 cap meets a 288-core chip

Qualcomm's attorney kept returning to a chart showing Arm seeking a 1,800% royalty increase between version 9 and version 10 of its computing architecture ¹. Arm's attorney pressed chief executive Cristiano Amon on the 2013 license that caps royalties at $1.88 per chip for any chip with five or more processor cores: with data-center chips now carrying 288 cores, was Qualcomm paying for five and "getting 283 for free"? ¹ "I don't see it that way," Amon said ¹. The fight is a smartphone-era contract being asked to price data-center silicon.

Arm's answer: Meta moved on, and no harm done

Qualcomm's Karen Dunn told jurors Arm leaked its 2024 breach notice to the press, and that by the time Qualcomm secured its Meta chip deal the value had fallen by $170 million: "Delay is costly" ¹. Arm's Gregg LoCascio answered that Meta had moved from virtual-reality headsets to AI eyeglasses and adjusted its terms: "They were not harmed in the least" ¹. Arm also argues Qualcomm leaked non-public details of antitrust investigations↗ itself, and so cannot claim damages over a leak ².

Nine percent of Arm's revenue rides on this fight

Qualcomm was 9% of Arm's total revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026↗ ⁴. Arm's royalty growth leans on higher per-chip rates from newer architectures, and its own annual filing warns customers may refuse to pay them ⁴. Revenue rose 22% in the June quarter↗ as data-center royalties more than doubled year over year, and the current quarter is guided higher still ⁶. ARM shares have gained about 168% this year; Qualcomm's about 6% ².

The trial runs five days, putting a verdict well before Arm reports on November 4↗ ¹³. The 2022 case that started the feud remains on appeal ⁴. A jury that caps Arm's pricing would not break the 2033 agreement, but it would hand every other licensee the argument Qualcomm is making this week.