Qualcomm Inc. has launched a global antitrust action against Arm Holdings Plc as the two longtime business partners battle for dominance in the computing semiconductor market.

Qualcomm has argued in closed meetings and confidential filings with regulators on three continents that its largest supplier, Arm, has engaged in anticompetitive behavior, according to people familiar with the matter.

Qualcomm has complained to the European Commission, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the South Korean Fair Trade Commission that Arm is hurting competition by restricting access to its technology after more than 20 years of operating open networks, the people said.

Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of mobile phone chips, argues that Arm's heavy reliance on its technology through an open licensing model has also contributed to the booming chip industry. Qualcomm is telling competition authorities around the world that this vibrant market is now threatened because Arm is boosting profits through its own chipmaking ambitions by restricting access, the people said.

A Qualcomm spokesman declined to comment. Spokesmen for the European Union, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the South Korean Fair Trade Commission declined to comment.

Arm said it was confident it would prevail. "Arm remains focused on strengthening innovation, promoting competition and respecting contractual rights and obligations," the company said in an emailed statement. "Any allegations of anticompetitive behavior are nothing more than a desperate attempt by Qualcomm to deflect attention and expand the parties' ongoing commercial dispute in the interest of its own competitive interests."

Both companies are trying to position themselves to benefit from a boom in computing demand - from desktops to artificial intelligence systems - as the smartphone chip market, which has driven much of their growth in recent years, has become more sluggish.

Qualcomm's complaints to global regulators match arguments the San Diego-based company made in a recent lawsuit filed by Arm in Delaware. In that lawsuit, Qualcomm successfully argued that it didn't need a new license to use Arm's technology for a chip startup it acquired.

Qualcomm laid out its global position in a countersuit in Delaware, saying that after Arm's acquisition by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. and a failed attempt to sell itself to Nvidia Corp., "Arm is now taking any means - fair or unfair - to boost its profits and share price."

Arm says it plans to seek a retrial. In late January, the companies said they planned to hold court-ordered mediation talks as requested by a Delaware judge before deciding whether to grant a retrial. If no agreement can be reached, the conflict could take years to resolve, distracting the companies from their core businesses.

The antitrust and court battles show two longtime business partners vying for legal victories to gain an edge in licensing deals that cover hundreds of millions of processors in mobile phones and generate billions of dollars in profits each year.

In late December, before its court victory, Qualcomm filed a competition lawsuit against Arm in Europe, alleging that Arm sought to limit access to its licenses and conceal key technologies to compete more directly with Qualcomm, according to some people familiar with the matter.

Arm has received the EU complaint and is responding, some of the people said.

Qualcomm met with FTC officials in Washington earlier this year to discuss its concerns, some of the people said. In its complaint, Qualcomm accused Arm of hiding key technology it was supposed to provide under a licensing agreement, two people familiar with the matter said. Qualcomm has also raised its concerns with South Korea's antitrust regulator, some of the people said.

Arm, which is based in the United Kingdom and is majority-owned by SoftBank, doesn't make its own chips. Instead, it sells chip designs and licenses so-called instruction sets - the code that software uses to communicate with processors. Chipmakers such as Qualcomm and device makers such as Apple rely on licenses from Arm to make their products.

Under Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas, Arm has shifted from providing foundational technology to chipmakers to building more complete designs that make it more competitive with its traditional customer base, including Qualcomm.

To be sure, Qualcomm itself has faced scrutiny from regulators around the world, but has largely emerged victorious, winning its broad battle with the European Union and its appeal against the Federal Trade Commission, which accused the company of engaging in predatory licensing practices.

Reference link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-25/qualcomm-takes-legal-fight-with-arm-to-global-antitrust-agencies?srnd=phx-technology

Source: Content compiled from Bloomberg

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