Qualcomm shifts more chips to Arm’s latest architecture as competition heats up

Qualcomm is moving flagship chips onto newer Arm v9-class technology to sharpen AI performance and counter Apple/MediaTek—while easing some of last year’s legal friction with Arm.

What’s new

Reuters reports Qualcomm has transitioned key SoCs to Arm’s latest-generation instruction set and IP blocks. While Qualcomm didn’t confirm “v9” by name, it emphasized the benefit of choosing the instruction features that matter most for its customers—an advantage of owning a CPU design team.

Why it matters

• AI headroom: v9-class features (e.g., SVE2, security, ML ops) help sustained inference and on-device assistants—as relevant for phones as for Windows on Arm laptops.
• Commercial détente: A modern license stack reduces legal overhang and clarifies economics as Arm pushes for higher royalties on newer tech—context for our explainer on Qualcomm vs Arm judgment.

What to watch

• Public core disclosures in upcoming Snapdragon launches.
• Performance-per-watt deltas in mixed CPU+NPU workflows vs Apple and MediaTek.
• Any remaining licensing footnotes as Arm monetizes v9 across the ecosystem.

Sources

• Reuters
• Economic Times (Reuters relay)