By now, most of you should know about Qualcomm and the mobile chipsets it provides. But did you know that Qualcomm actually licenses its chipset designs from ARM? Well, that license could soon be changed, which could give Qualcomm some big problems.
According to SemiAnalysis (via 9to5Google), ARM could prohibit companies from customising certain parts of ARM-based chipsets. It's suggested that ARM is "bundling its other IP with the CPU IP in a take-it-or-leave-it model", thus preventing OEM partners from using non-Mali GPUs. This proposed licensing model could affect major OEM companies that have customised ARM-based chipsets.
For example, Samsung has been working with AMD to create custom RDNA2-based GPUs for its high-end Exynos chipsets. Qualcomm is the same, as it sells its Snapdragon chipsets with customised Adreno GPUs. Google is another company that could be affected since its Google Pixel devices feature the custom Google Tensor chip, which helps with the camera and AI learning features.
Of course, ARM could renegotiate its deal with its OEM partners. There are no confirmations on which direction ARM could go at present, and we don't know how big of an effect this could have. For now, we'll keep an eye out for updates on this and see how things go. Until then, stay tuned to TechNave for more news on mobile tech and gadgets.
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