If you have noticed, Samsung’s Exynos chipsets seem to be largely exclusive to Samsung’s own smartphones and devices. You might have assumed that it’s a similar situation to Apple where the Cupertino company’s A-series of chipsets are exclusive to iOS devices for marketing and performance purposes.However that assumption could be wrong. In a report from The Korea Economic Daily, it seems that the reason Samsung’s Exynos chips aren’t found in other devices is because Qualcomm has prevented it. The report claims that Samsung had wanted to sell the Exynos chipsets to other manufacturers, but Qualcomm blocked it by allegedly “abusing” the standard essential patent license.
Apparently this prevents Samsung from selling its modems and integrated chipsets to other companies for a whopping 25 years, which by the end of that we’re not even sure if Samsung’s Exynos chips will be relevant. According to the Fair Trade Commission, “Samsung Electronics has been blocked from selling its modem chipsets to other smartphone manufacturers due to a license deal it signed with Qualcomm.”
At the moment Qualcomm is facing some legal issues in several countries, where Apple has filed a lawsuit against them, as well as against the FTC where. Last year the company was also hit with a massive fine over antitrust violations in South Korea.
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