Qualcomm gains licensing access to Huawei LogicFolding chip design patents in new cross-licensing agreement.

Huawei and Qualcomm have signed a multi-year patent licensing agreement covering 5G, computing, artificial intelligence, and networking technologies. The deal includes cross-licensing of patents from both companies' portfolios, with Qualcomm gaining access to Huawei's LogicFolding chip technology. Qualcomm will also purchase certain Huawei patents in the United States covering computing, AI, networking, and other fields. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval.

Under the arrangement, each company gains reciprocal access to the other's patent portfolio across the specified technology areas. Though both companies have withheld the official transaction value, Bloomberg reported a Huawei spokesperson confirming the overall contract value is expected to exceed USD 6.9 billion.

Both parties said the agreement reflects their commitment to intellectual property rights and licensing practices based on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) principles.

John Han, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing, stated: "Qualcomm has invested in foundational wireless technologies that have enabled successive generations of mobile innovation and earned broad recognition across the global wireless industry. This agreement reaffirms industry recognition of Qualcomm's 5G technology leadership and the success of Qualcomm's 5G SEP licensing program. This agreement likewise reflects Qualcomm's recognition of Huawei's continued innovation and intellectual property in 5G and other technology fields."

Huawei Chief Intellectual Property Officer Alan Fan said: "Huawei's decades of sustained investment in fundamental R&D have driven innovation and progress in mobile communications and other technology fields. Huawei's broad contributions to the 4G/5G standards, such as the near-physical-limit signal transmission technology using polar codes, have established Huawei's leadership in the mobile communications industry. This agreement not only demonstrates the value of Huawei's innovations, but also recognises Qualcomm's foundational contributions to modern communication technologies."

LogicFolding, introduced by Huawei in May 2026, forms part of the company's Tau Scaling Law—an approach designed to improve chip performance by reducing signal propagation delay rather than relying solely on transistor miniaturization. The technology shortens critical-path wiring and reduces resistance and capacitance, improving transistor density and circuit performance. This addresses mounting technical and economic challenges chipmakers face advancing to smaller process nodes. The Kirin 9050 Pro, the first Kirin chip to incorporate LogicFolding architecture, debuted on the Huawei Mate XT 2 tri-fold smartphone.