Qualcomm and Apple are close to resolving their ongoing issues, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said speaking to CNBC on Wednesday.

"We do talk as companies," the CEO told Jim Cramer in an exclusive interview on "Mad Money."

Mollenkopf attributed the back-and-forth to "activities that are consistent with" what he called "the fourth quarter of the game, and not the first quarter."

"We've always talked about — I've been very consistent — that ... the second half of this year and into next year is when we're really on the doorstep of finding a resolution and we don't see anything different than that," the CEO said.

Apple and Qualcomm have been embroiled in legal battles, with Apple accusing Qualcomm of illegally demanding a cut of each iPhone and Qualcomm accusing Apple of illegally stealing and bartering its trade secrets. Their formal disputes go back to early 2017.

Qualcomm used to provide chips for Apple's iPhones, but Apple turned to Intel's cellular chips in the latest smartphone models.

Mollenkopf believes that the two companies will be able to copperate again in the near future, as the the generations of wireless change (5G).