Huawei, Qualcomm Announce Multiyear 5G, AI Patent Deal

Huawei and Qualcomm on October 5, 2026, jointly announced a multiyear patent license agreement from Shenzhen and San Diego. It covers cross-licenses across 5G, compute, AI and networking, plus Qualcomm’s purchase of certain Huawei U.S. patents in those fields. The companies said it is their first patent-licensing deal covering 5G and Huawei’s first to license and assign compute, AI and networking patents to Qualcomm. Financial terms were not disclosed; closing depends on regulatory approvals. Huawei said the deal will push the expected value of its patent-licensing agreements above $6.9 billion. Its IP licensing business has generated positive revenue since 2021; its first licensing payment was to Qualcomm in 2001 and its first licensing income from Motorola in 2011. The pact follows Huawei’s August licensing deal with HP. Alan Fan of Huawei said the firm’s R&D and 4G/5G contributions, including polar codes, show the value of its innovations while recognizing Qualcomm’s foundational role. John Han of Qualcomm said the deal reaffirms Qualcomm’s 5G SEP licensing success and recognizes Huawei’s continued IP in 5G and other fields.