Arm's v10 royalty demand equals up to 30% of a $220 Snapdragon chip's price, trial figures suggest

Arm's proposed Armv10 royalties would equal 12.8% to 29.5% of the price of a $220 Snapdragon flagship chip, up from 0.85% under Qualcomm's current license, based on figures stated during closing arguments in the companies' bench trial on October 20. The trial before US District Judge Maryellen Noreika covers whether Arm negotiated in good faith over the v10 license. The rate models remain under seal, but several figures were stated in open court, which was covered by analyst John Dorbal on X.

Qualcomm's 2013 architecture license agreement (ALA), valid until 2033, caps royalties at $1.88 per chip for processors with five or more CPU cores. Per Dorbal, that equals 1.25% of the chip's selling price, with the price used for the calculation capped at $150, or about $0.23 per core on an eight-core Snapdragon chip. This means that Qualcomm only has to pay $1.875 per Snapdragon chip with eight custom Arm cores.

Qualcomm counsel Karen Dunn said Arm's v10 offers reach as much as 15 times what Qualcomm pays today. Dunn also cited sealed expert calculations placing the rate for 2034 to 2040 at 34.5 times the current figure, according to Dorbal. Applied to the $1.88 cap, that equals $28.20 per chip for 2027 to 2033 and $64.86 per chip for 2034 to 2040.

Arguing for higher rates, Arm counsel Gregg LoCascio stated: "Today it's 220, it's ten times what some of them were in 2013." This indicates how much Qualcomm sells its flagship silicon like the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 for.

LoCascio also revealed that Qualcomm offered $250 million upfront in late 2024 to secure v10 terms and settle the litigation, which Arm rejected. Qualcomm paid $40.25 million upfront for its original 2013 ALA, according to Dorbal.

Arm argues the 2013 terms are outdated. LoCascio said its v10 rates are partly based on what Google and Microsoft pay, and Arm has questioned whether a cap set for small phone chips should also cover data center processors with 288 cores.

The per-chip figures assume the multiples apply to the $1.88 cap; Arm's exact v10 structure is undisclosed and may vary by product. Noreika called Qualcomm's request for court-ordered negotiations "very, very drastic" and will issue a written ruling after final submissions.