Which? is dragging Qualcomm to court. The bad grammar was intended and for good reason. The UK consumer group named after the English interrogative pronoun claims that Qualcomm forced Apple and Samsung to pay inflated prices for smartphone chips and licensing fees. The companies then pushed up the cost of phones for ordinary users.
The first trial will decide whether Qualcomm abused its market power. We can only take a moment to marvel at the numbers for the meantime. If Which? succeeds, a second stage could see Qualcomm paying £480 million (≈ 645,264,000), averaging about £17 (≈ $23) per affected phone. However, it could take years before anyone actually sees the money.
You may be getting compensation
Qualcomm has been a major supplier of smartphone chips, particularly modems and processors, to companies like Apple and Samsung for many years. Their latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 was recently announced last month on September 25.
Major phones like the Xiaomi 15, OnePlus 15, and Realme GT 8 Pro are already set to launch with it. Apple and Samsung also rely on Qualcomm for their components because there are few alternatives that offer the same performance and compatibility.
Lisa Webb, a senior lawyer for Which?, says that they filed the claim against the chip maker back in 2021, but the trial is only now starting in 2025. According to her, consumers don’t have to do anything. If Which? wins, the money will be distributed automatically.
The system has been likely set up so that all affected consumers benefit without any effort on their part. Of course, individual identification isn’t possible for every phone bought, but they could use statistical estimates and records of the transactions.
Qualcomm hasn't been on their best behavior
Apparently, this isn't Qualcomm’s first rodeo. They have faced similar antitrust and licensing disputes before in multiple jurisdictions. In the EU, they were fined for anti-competitive behavior, and in Canada, a comparable case is still ongoing.
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Qualcomm in 2017 over its licensing practices, though that case was dismissed in 2020. The same Qualcomm recently won another major legal battle. This time, it was against Arm in the USA over licensing agreements and intellectual property.
Arm claiming that Qualcomm and its subsidiary, Nuvia, had violated the architecture license agreement (ALA) between them. Arm argued that Qualcomm’s use of Nuvia’s technology overstepped the terms of the license. The case went to trial in December 2024, and a jury unanimously ruled in Qualcomm’s favor last month, saying they did not breach the agreement.
The current case with Which? is starting in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. Qualcomm is yet to make a comment. The trial will just have to decide whether Which's evidence supports their claims. Although it's largely a financial and regulatory matter, it doesn't seem like one to affect Qualcomm’s relationships with Apple or Samsung in the short term.
Losing Qualcomm as a supplier would be difficult, and it’s in everyone’s interest to maintain the business relationship, regardless of the outcome. Samsung may be reducing its dependence on external suppliers with their in-house Exynos chips, but Qualcomm remains a powerful figure in high-end connectivity.
