Qualcomm Got $4.5 Billion From Apple Settlement According to Earnings Release

Qualcomm today announced its quarterly earnings results and shared details on the amount of revenue that it will be receiving in the coming quarter as part of its recent settlement with Apple.

As pointed out by Axios, Qualcomm will record $4.5 to $4.7 billion in revenue from the Apple settlement, which includes a "cash payment from Apple and the release of related liabilities."

qualcomm iphones
Apple and Qualcomm announced a settlement in mid-April, dropping all lawsuits and litigation against one another. Apple at the time said the settlement included a payment from Apple to Qualcomm, but both companies declined to provide specific details on just how much Apple paid out in backdated royalties.

An analyst estimate put the number at around $5 billion to $6 billion, but it appears Apple didn't shell out quite that much.

Apple's deal with Qualcomm also includes a direct six year licensing agreement and a multiyear chipset supply agreement, which will see Qualcomm supplying modem chips to Apple for future devices.

Apple appears to have had no alternative but to settle with Qualcomm as it needed 5G modem chips for its 2020 iPhone lineup. Apple originally planned to use Intel chips, but rumors suggested Intel wasn't meeting development goals, leading to tension between Apple and Intel.

Just hours after Apple and Qualcomm announced a settlement deal, Intel said that it was exiting the 5G smartphone modem business and would not be making 5G smartphone chips at all, a decision the company later said was based on Apple and Qualcomm's settlement.

Yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple "feels good" about the resolution with Qualcomm. "We're glad to put the litigation behind us and all the litigation around the world has been dismissed and settled," said Cook. "We're very happy to have a multi-year supply agreement and we're happy that we have a direct license arrangement with Qualcomm that was important for both companies."

Popular Stories

iPhone Air

Report: 'Virtually No Demand' for iPhone Air

Wednesday October 22, 2025 3:22 am PDT by
Apple is "drastically" cutting production of the iPhone Air and shifting focus toward the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models, Nikkei Asia reports. The business publication claims to have learned of a major cut to iPhone Air production motivated by weaker-than-expected consumer interest, nearly to "end of production levels." Despite early reports of the iPhone Air selling out within hours of...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
sam sung auction

Former Apple Employee Sam Sung Changed His Name to Avoid Attention

Wednesday October 22, 2025 4:44 pm PDT by
Back in 2012, an Apple retail employee named Sam Sung went viral because his name is similar to Samsung, one of Apple's main competitors. In a recent interview with Business Insider, he detailed that period in his life, how Apple responded, and he explained why he ultimately changed his name. Someone posted an image of Sung's Apple business card on Reddit in 2012, and it spread rapidly....
cadillac lyric infotainment

GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars

Wednesday October 22, 2025 11:34 am PDT by
General Motors began phasing out support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles back in 2023, leading to complaints from iPhone users, but the company has no plans to back down. In fact, GM is going further and plans to remove CarPlay from all future gas vehicles, too. In an interview with The Verge, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company opted to prioritize its platform for EVs, but the...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple's Plan to Launch Three New iPhone Designs Allegedly Revealed

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:24 am PDT by
Apple plans to launch a new type of iPhone every year for the foreseeable future, according to an Asia-based source. The detailed information was shared by the account "yeux1122" in a blog post on the Korean platform Naver, citing domestic trend and component research companies. Corroborating other reports, Apple will apparently launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026, featuring a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iOS 26

What's New in iOS 26.1 Beta 4

Monday October 20, 2025 1:02 pm PDT by
Even though we're at the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple is continuing to add new features. In fact, the fourth beta has some of the biggest changes that we'll get when iOS 26.1 releases to the public later this month. We've rounded up what's new below. Liquid Glass Transparency Toggle Apple added a toggle for customizing the look of Liquid Glass. In Settings > Display and Brightness,...

Top Rated Comments

Baymowe335 Avatar
85 months ago
More confirmation apple was lying about being overcharged.
No, it's not proof of that at all.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
User 6502 Avatar
85 months ago


So don't start coming in here saying Apple lost and all that. No one knows the terms.

QCOM -5% after earnings.
No one knows for sure, but everyone can make educated guesses, and most people guess Apple lost, and they are probably right.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macfacts Avatar
85 months ago
So, nothing for AAPL, particularly if they get a long term deal they find favorable.

Remember kids, the $4.5B is likely just royalty payments Apple stopped making during litigation and they are paying QCOM to make them whole on previously agreed terms. This isn't like a $4.5B bonus for QCOM.

So don't start coming in here saying Apple lost and all that. No one knows the terms.

QCOM -5% after earnings.
More confirmation apple was lying about being overcharged.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rafark Avatar
85 months ago
Glad apple was forced to pay its bills.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Baymowe335 Avatar
85 months ago
So, nothing for AAPL, particularly if they get a long term deal they find favorable.

Remember kids, the $4.5B is likely just royalty payments Apple stopped making during litigation and they are paying QCOM to make them whole on previously agreed terms. This isn't like a $4.5B bonus for QCOM.

So don't start coming in here saying Apple lost and all that. No one knows the terms.

QCOM -5% after earnings.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
85 months ago
It's not a win if QCOM wanted $15/iPhone and Apple stopped royalty payments already agreed from before. How much of the $4.5B was stopped royalty payments they owed anyway?

And how much did Apple save in their new terms versus what QCOM wanted over the next 5 years?

Yeah, you don't know.
How can it not be a win? They presumably got their overdue royalty payments, an increase in the royalty rate from $7.50 to between $8 to $9 per device, and another long term commitment. Supposedly wanting $15 and getting ~$8 or so can't be considered losing... especially when they were getting $0 in overdue payments, $0 dollars per device in current and future payments, and no commitment for 5G modems. In no version of this tale did Qualcomm not win. That's not to say Apple lost, because they didn't. But you can't honestly put forth an argument where Qualcomm didn't win.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)