Qualcomm Tuesday announced a patent license agreement with Chinese appliance manufacturer the Haier Group and Beijing Tianyu Communication Equipment Co., Ltd.
The deals give the San Diego-based supplier of mobile chip technology a positive end to a year otherwise littered with overseas regulatory problems and a poor financial performance.
The agreements will allow Qingdao-based Haier, one of the world's largest supplier of appliances, to make and sell products with Qualcomm's 3G and 4G LTE technology.
"Haier values and respects Qualcomm's intellectual property, which was created as a result of its extensive research and development efforts," said Cao Teng, general manager of Qingdao Haier Telecom Co., Ltd.
"The licensing agreement with Qualcomm supports our vision by helping us to deliver products embedded with leading 3G and 4G connectivity to provide the same convenient and personalized connected experience that consumers have come to expect from a smartphone."
Tianyu operates the K-Touch mobile network in more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Eric Reifschneider, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing, said the agreements are "an example of our ongoing commitment to support the growth of Chinese companies and the development of wireless networks, devices and applications."
Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but they come at a critical time for Qualcomm, which is seeking to rebound from declining revenues and profits this year that prompted company-wide layoffs.
The agreements come 10 months after the company agreed to pay $975 million in fines after China's National Development and Reform Commission ruled that it had violated the Asian country's anti-monopoly laws.
The new deal is consistent with provisions of the regulatory settlement, according to Qualcomm, which faces other investigations in Europe and Taiwan.
Qualcomm announced Monday a similar agreement with Shenzhen-based QiKu Internet Network Scientific, an Internet start-up.
