Settling one big legal fight with Samsung is also an important step towards the final closure with Apple. Fudzilla did tell you that these legal battles are usually settled behind  closed doors without announcing the big winner or big loser. Once again, we were right as Qualcomm and Samsung have found common ground that resulted in the extended cross licensing. The news comes just in time before the company announced its FY2018 Q1 financial results.

This was a two part announcement, first focusing on the expansion of the global patent cross-license agreement with Samsung covering mobile devices and infrastructure equipment.  The amended agreement is consistent with Qualcomm’s global handset-level licensing practices and will result in Samsung withdrawing its interventions in Qualcomm’s appeal of the KFTC decision in the Seoul High Court.

This might result in Exynos being sold to more customers, but it is not really clear if this is covered. Fudzilla has spent a lot of time with Qualcomm C level executives but never gained enough details about the licensing part of the business. This seems to be a very internal matter for the company.

Steve Mollenkopf, Chief Executive Officer, Qualcomm Incorporated, said:  “Qualcomm has enjoyed a strong partnership with Samsung for many years, and we are pleased to further strengthen and extend our relationship through this amended cross-license agreement, alongside our continuing relationship as a key product supplier to Samsung.”

Alex Rogers, executive vice president and president, Qualcomm Technology Licensing, said: “We believe this amended agreement provides the foundation for a long-term, stable relationship with Samsung following the KFTC investigation. With our portfolio of leading technology inventions, we are committed to driving growth for the global ecosystem and we look forward to an expanded business relationship with Samsung.”