Ask HN: Thoughts on ARM vs. Qualcomm

[BirAdam]

January 13th will mark the start of the discovery phase of the trial. I am curious what your thoughts are on this particular case as it could have rather serious and broad effects on the industry.

For those not presently in the loop, I will summarize.

Qualcomm purchased CPU maker Nuvia and in the process gained access to IP developed under a license for ARM. As Qualcomm already possessed a cheaper license for custom ARM designs, they felt that they had a legal right to continue developing Nuvia IP, and to sell hardware resulting from it. ARM says that this is not the case, and wanted Qualcomm to pay higher royalties for Nuvia derived designs. The two could not agree and the two are going to a jury trial.

[wmf]

We don't have all the facts on the contracts yet so it's hard to draw any accurate conclusions at this point. I have a feeling both sides are bluffing and there will be a settlement either before trial or before the 8 Gen 3 is released.

[BirAdam → wmf]

I kind of feel the same. Primarily, they have to settle or both companies will suffer rather severely, right?

[wmf → BirAdam]

The "new licensing model" (which I believe is a bluff) is certainly suicide, but Qualcomm might die years before Arm. Also, given the strain in the Softbank-Arm relationship a bust-out is not impossible.