Qualcomm's new chips based on Arm v9 - the answer to Apple and MediaTek competition

Qualcomm has decided to transition its flagship chips to the latest Arm v9 architecture, rather than the previous standard’s versions. This is a move that is both technologically and strategically significant – as it signals a continued partnership with Arm despite previous tensions, and could strengthen Qualcomm’s position in the race against Apple and MediaTek.

Arm v9’s Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) introduces improvements targeted at artificial intelligence tasks – including better support for vector computing and auxiliary operations for generative models. Qualcomm stresses that, with its in-house development team, it can select those instructions that will actually bring value to customers, although it has not officially confirmed the use of v9.

This move could significantly increase Arm’s revenue – the company charges higher royalties for new technologies – although the exact impact will be difficult to estimate, as Qualcomm designs most of the chips in-house rather than purchasing reference modules from Arm.

The significance of the decision grows in the context of the recent legal battle between Qualcomm and Arm. Last year, Arm threatened to cancel a key licence on Qualcomm’s chips, highlighting the risk of a break-up. Meanwhile, a federal court has just confirmed that Qualcomm did not breach the licence terms associated with the Nuvia acquisition, which could facilitate further licensing agreements.

Qualcom’s move indicates that the company, despite the disputes, sees the future in an Arm-based model – at least for now – rather than moving to alternative ISAs such as RISC-V, which continue to suffer from a less mature ecosystem.