Qualcomm

Qualcomm is an American technology company that develops semiconductor platforms, wireless technologies, artificial intelligence systems, computing architectures and intellectual property used across smartphones, PCs, vehicles, industrial systems and AI infrastructure. Best known for Snapdragon, Qualcomm combines a large semiconductor-products business with a separate technology-licensing business built on decades of cellular research.

The company is increasingly expanding beyond smartphones into automotive computing, Windows PCs, industrial and edge AI, robotics and data centres while continuing to rely on mobile and wireless technology as major parts of its business.

Last updated: August 22, 2026

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated was founded in 1985 in San Diego, California, by Irwin Jacobs and six other former Linkabit colleagues. The name came from the idea of building a company around “quality communications.” Its early work focused on difficult wireless-communications problems, particularly Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA.

Today, Qualcomm operates across semiconductors, cellular connectivity, computing and artificial intelligence. The company is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker QCOM and remains headquartered in San Diego.

Qualcomm is primarily a fabless semiconductor company. It designs most of the integrated circuits and platforms it sells but relies heavily on external semiconductor foundries to fabricate the silicon. Qualcomm does operate manufacturing facilities for some radio-frequency front-end products, so it is more accurate to describe the company as predominantly fabless rather than entirely manufacturing-free.

What distinguishes Qualcomm from many semiconductor businesses is the combination of product sales and intellectual-property licensing. Its technology business sells processors, modems and complete computing platforms, while a separate licensing business earns royalties from portions of Qualcomm's patent portfolio.

What Does Qualcomm Do?

Qualcomm develops technologies that allow devices and machines to compute, communicate and process AI workloads.

Its major activities fall into several broad areas:

• semiconductor platforms for smartphones and personal computing;

• cellular modem and radio-frequency technology;

• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other connectivity technologies;

• automotive computing and connectivity;

• industrial and embedded computing;

• edge AI and robotics;

• AI and data-centre infrastructure; and

• licensing of patented communications and related technologies.

Across these businesses, three capabilities repeatedly appear: connectivity, high-performance low-power computing and artificial intelligence.

Qualcomm applies those capabilities differently depending on the market. In a smartphone, they may appear inside a Snapdragon platform that combines CPU, GPU, AI, imaging and connectivity functions. In a car, similar capabilities support digital cockpits, driver-assistance systems and connectivity. In industrial systems, they can power machine vision or edge AI. Qualcomm is now also extending its computing technology into data-centre AI infrastructure.

This broader portfolio is why describing Qualcomm simply as a “smartphone-chip company” is increasingly incomplete. Smartphones remain commercially important, but the company's technology now spans a much larger portion of the computing market.

Qualcomm Business Model

Qualcomm's business model has two main engines: QCT, its semiconductor and technology-products business, and QTL, its intellectual-property licensing business.

The relationship between them is one of the most distinctive aspects of the company.

QCT: Semiconductor and Technology Products

Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) develops and supplies semiconductor products, platforms and related technologies.

QCT includes products used in:

• smartphones;

• PCs and other consumer devices;

• automotive systems;

• networking equipment;

• industrial and embedded systems; and

• other connected devices.

Qualcomm designs these technologies but generally depends on third-party foundries and other manufacturing partners for much of the production process.

A simplified version of the model is:

Qualcomm designs the technology → semiconductor manufacturers fabricate much of the silicon → device manufacturers integrate Qualcomm technology into finished products.

This allows Qualcomm to concentrate substantial resources on chip architecture, wireless research, AI, system design, software and intellectual property rather than owning leading-edge semiconductor fabs.

QTL: Technology Licensing

Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) operates on a different model.

Qualcomm has spent decades developing technologies related to cellular communications and other technical standards. Portions of that research produced patented inventions that are licensed to device manufacturers and other companies.

QTL therefore earns licensing and royalty revenue even though it does not operate like a conventional semiconductor-products business.

This creates an important distinction:

QCT monetizes products and platforms. QTL monetizes intellectual property.

A manufacturer does not necessarily need to buy a Snapdragon application processor for Qualcomm's patent portfolio to remain commercially relevant to its cellular products.

Why the Dual Model Matters

The product-and-licensing combination gives Qualcomm two different ways to benefit from technology development.

Research into connectivity and computing can support Qualcomm's own semiconductor products while also contributing to intellectual property that may have licensing value.

This model also creates different risk profiles. Product revenue depends heavily on design wins, customer demand, supply chains and semiconductor competition. Licensing revenue depends more directly on patent rights, licensing agreements, device sales and the legal and regulatory environment surrounding intellectual property.

How Does Qualcomm Make Money?

Qualcomm reported $44.284 billion in consolidated revenue in fiscal 2025, up from approximately $39.0 billion in fiscal 2024. QCT was by far the largest contributor, while QTL remained a smaller but economically important licensing business.

The three QCT product categories generated approximately $38.367 billion in fiscal 2025. Handsets remained dominant, accounting for about $27.8 billion of QCT revenue. IoT generated approximately $6.6 billion and automotive approximately $4.0 billion.

Handset Revenue

Smartphones remain Qualcomm's largest product market.

Handset QCT revenue reached approximately $27.8 billion in fiscal 2025, compared with about $24.9 billion in fiscal 2024. Qualcomm said the increase was driven partly by higher revenue per chipset, product mix and shipments to major OEMs.

This is why Qualcomm's diversification strategy should not be interpreted as an exit from smartphones. Handsets continue to provide the largest single revenue stream in QCT.

IoT Revenue

Qualcomm's IoT reporting category is broader than conventional smart-home devices.

It includes consumer products such as PCs and XR devices, edge-networking products such as wireless access points, and industrial applications including handheld devices, retail systems, tracking and logistics equipment and utilities.

Fiscal 2025 IoT QCT revenue was approximately $6.6 billion.

Automotive Revenue

Automotive has become one of Qualcomm's most important growth businesses.

Fiscal 2025 automotive QCT revenue reached approximately $4.0 billion, compared with about $2.9 billion in fiscal 2024. The category includes products used in vehicle connectivity, digital cockpits, advanced driver-assistance systems and automated-driving applications.

Licensing Revenue

QTL generated approximately $5.582 billion in fiscal 2025 licensing revenue.

Although QTL is much smaller than QCT by revenue, its economics differ materially from the semiconductor-products business. Qualcomm reported QTL earnings before tax of roughly $4.0 billion in fiscal 2025, reflecting the high-margin nature of licensing compared with physical semiconductor products.

Products and Services

Qualcomm's portfolio covers consumer, automotive, industrial and infrastructure markets. The company increasingly organizes that portfolio around different brands and platforms rather than using Snapdragon for every category.

Snapdragon Mobile Platforms

Snapdragon remains Qualcomm's best-known technology family.

Snapdragon platforms are integrated computing systems used primarily in smartphones and other personal devices. Depending on the product, they can combine CPU processing, graphics, neural processing, imaging, security, audio and wireless connectivity.

The important distinction is that Snapdragon is not simply a CPU brand. It represents a broader system platform containing multiple computing and connectivity components.

Snapdragon X and Qualcomm Oryon

Qualcomm entered the Windows PC market more aggressively through the Snapdragon X Series.

These platforms use Qualcomm's custom Oryon CPU architecture together with graphics, AI-processing and connectivity capabilities. Qualcomm introduced the first generation of Oryon in Snapdragon X Series platforms and has since extended the CPU architecture into mobile and automotive product families.

Oryon's development is closely connected to Qualcomm's 2021 acquisition of NUVIA, which strengthened the company's custom CPU engineering capabilities.

5G Modem-RF and Wireless Connectivity

Connectivity remains one of Qualcomm's foundational businesses.

The company develops cellular modems, radio-frequency technologies, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, positioning and related wireless systems. These technologies are used across smartphones, PCs, networking products, automobiles and other connected devices.

Qualcomm's long history in cellular standards also links this product business to QTL's intellectual-property portfolio.

Snapdragon Digital Chassis

The Snapdragon Digital Chassis is Qualcomm's automotive platform family.

It covers areas including vehicle connectivity, digital cockpit systems, advanced driver-assistance and automated-driving platforms, and related cloud-connected vehicle capabilities. Qualcomm presents Digital Chassis as an integrated architecture for software-defined vehicles rather than a single automotive chip.

In July 2026, BMW selected Qualcomm as a lead compute silicon provider for future digital cockpit and next-generation ADAS/automated-driving programs, expanding an existing technical relationship between the two companies.

Qualcomm Dragonwing

Qualcomm Dragonwing is positioned primarily around industrial and embedded IoT, networking and infrastructure applications.

The brand covers technologies used in areas such as industrial computing, robotics, machine vision, retail, logistics, networking and edge AI. Qualcomm introduced Dragonwing partly to give its industrial and enterprise technologies a clearer identity separate from consumer-focused Snapdragon products.

Robotics and Extended Reality

Qualcomm also provides technology for robotics and XR devices.

These markets reuse capabilities developed elsewhere in Qualcomm's portfolio: CPUs, GPUs, neural processing, computer vision, sensor processing and connectivity.

Robotics is becoming particularly relevant to Qualcomm's physical AI strategy because machines must process information locally, interpret their surroundings and respond in real time.

Data-Centre AI and Qualcomm Dragonfly

Data centres are one of Qualcomm's newest strategic markets.

At its June 2026 Investor Day, the company introduced a broader Qualcomm Dragonfly data-centre strategy spanning CPUs, AI inference acceleration, high-speed connectivity and custom silicon.

The company is emphasizing AI inference rather than attempting to position the business only around model training. Its broader proposition is to apply Qualcomm's experience in energy-efficient computing to large-scale AI infrastructure.

Two acquisitions strengthened this strategy.

Qualcomm completed its acquisition of Alphawave Semi on December 18, 2025, adding high-speed wired connectivity, chiplet and custom-silicon capabilities relevant to data centres.

It completed its acquisition of Modular on July 29, 2026. Modular adds AI-native software infrastructure intended to help developers deploy AI workloads across heterogeneous computing architectures.

Qualcomm Technology Licensing

Qualcomm's offerings are not limited to physical semiconductor products.

Through QTL, the company licenses portions of its intellectual-property portfolio to manufacturers and other licensees. This licensing business remains closely linked to Qualcomm's long history of cellular research and standards development.

Customers and Markets

Qualcomm operates primarily as a business-to-business technology supplier and licensor, even though consumers regularly encounter brands such as Snapdragon.

Its customer and licensee base spans several groups.

Device Manufacturers

Smartphone and personal-device manufacturers are among Qualcomm's most economically important customers.

They purchase products such as processors, modems, radio-frequency components and connectivity technologies and may also be licensees of Qualcomm intellectual property.

Customer concentration is significant. Qualcomm reported that Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each represented 10% or more of consolidated fiscal 2025 revenue.

This concentration gives a relatively small number of large device manufacturers substantial influence over Qualcomm's financial results.

Automotive Customers

Qualcomm sells automotive computing and connectivity technologies to automakers and the broader automotive ecosystem.

Its Snapdragon Digital Chassis products address digital cockpit, connectivity, ADAS and automated-driving applications. Qualcomm has relationships with major global automakers, including BMW and others across North America, Europe and Asia.

Automotive customers typically operate on longer design and qualification cycles than smartphone manufacturers, making design wins strategically important over multi-year vehicle programs.

Industrial, Networking and Enterprise Customers

Dragonwing and other Qualcomm technologies serve industrial equipment manufacturers, networking providers, retailers, logistics companies and businesses deploying edge-computing systems.

These markets allow Qualcomm to reuse AI, connectivity and low-power computing technologies in environments outside personal consumer devices.

Data-Centre and Cloud Markets

Qualcomm is also targeting cloud and data-centre customers with AI infrastructure, CPU, accelerator, connectivity and custom-silicon technologies.

This is still a newer market for Qualcomm than smartphones or automotive, and the company's long-term revenue targets assume substantial expansion over the next several years.

Geographic Exposure

Qualcomm operates globally, but China is particularly important.

The company derives a significant portion of revenue from Chinese OEMs and from non-Chinese manufacturers selling devices into China. Qualcomm's 10-K identifies this exposure as a material risk because trade policy, national-security restrictions, semiconductor self-sufficiency initiatives and geopolitical tensions can affect both customers and suppliers.

Competitors

Qualcomm does not have one direct competitor across every business. Its competitive set changes by market because the company operates in mobile processors, connectivity, automotive, industrial computing, AI and licensing.

Qualcomm's fiscal 2025 filing identifies competitors or potential competitors including Broadcom, HiSilicon, MediaTek, Mobileye, Nvidia, NXP Semiconductors, Qorvo, Samsung, Skyworks, Texas Instruments and UNISOC. Some of these companies are also Qualcomm partners in other areas.

Vertical Integration Is Also Competition

Some of Qualcomm's most significant competitive pressure comes from its own customers.

Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and other manufacturers have developed internal semiconductor technologies. Qualcomm specifically expects Apple to increasingly use its own modem products rather than Qualcomm modems in future devices, which the company says will negatively affect QCT revenue.

This means Qualcomm must compete not only against semiconductor vendors but also against customers deciding whether to design critical chips themselves.

Company History

Qualcomm's development can be divided into several major transitions: wireless communications, mobile computing, diversification beyond phones and expansion into AI infrastructure.

Qualcomm's official history traces the company's development from its 1985 founding through CDMA, 3G, Snapdragon and later wireless generations.

From CDMA to Mobile Computing

Qualcomm's early identity was built around wireless communications.

In November 1989, the company demonstrated CDMA technology in San Diego, helping establish that the approach could work for commercial cellular networks. Qualcomm later played an important role in cellular technologies associated with 3G, 4G and 5G.

The introduction of Snapdragon in 2007 marked another important transition. Qualcomm was no longer focused mainly on communications technology; it was increasingly integrating computing, graphics, multimedia and connectivity into broader mobile platforms.

From Mobile Computing to Broader Compute [H3]

The 2021 NUVIA acquisition strengthened Qualcomm's ability to develop custom CPUs and contributed to the Oryon architecture used across PC, mobile and automotive platforms.

During the 2020s, Qualcomm also accelerated expansion into automotive, industrial IoT, PCs, robotics and AI.

The acquisitions of Alphawave Semi in 2025 and Modular in 2026 represent another transition: Qualcomm is now attempting to participate not only in intelligent devices but also in the infrastructure and software used to run large-scale AI systems.

Leadership

Cristiano Amon — President and CEO

Cristiano R. Amon is President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm Incorporated and serves on the company's board of directors.

He became CEO on June 30, 2021 after previously serving as Qualcomm president and holding several product and semiconductor leadership positions, including leadership of QCT. Amon joined Qualcomm in 1995 as an engineer.

His tenure has been closely associated with Qualcomm's diversification beyond handsets into automotive, PCs, industrial computing and AI infrastructure.

Akash Palkhiwala — CFO and COO

Akash Palkhiwala serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

His role combines financial leadership with operational oversight during a period in which Qualcomm is investing heavily in new computing markets. He was part of the executive leadership team presenting Qualcomm's 2026 Investor Day strategy.

Leadership Around New Growth Businesses

Qualcomm has also assigned dedicated leadership to strategic growth areas.

Following the Alphawave Semi acquisition, co-founder and former CEO Tony Pialis was appointed to lead Qualcomm's data-centre business.

After Qualcomm completed its acquisition of Modular, Modular co-founder Chris Lattner became Executive Vice President of Advanced AI Software and Platforms.

These appointments reflect Qualcomm's effort to build specialist leadership around data-centre hardware and AI software rather than treating those businesses as extensions of its smartphone organization.

Ownership, Subsidiaries and Corporate Structure

Qualcomm Incorporated is a publicly traded company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker QCOM.

Its corporate structure separates important licensing activities from much of the product and engineering organization.

Qualcomm Incorporated and QTL

Qualcomm Incorporated contains the QTL licensing business and owns the vast majority of Qualcomm's patent portfolio.

Patent licenses are granted by Qualcomm Incorporated rather than by the main products subsidiary.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI) is a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated.

QTI and its subsidiaries conduct substantially all of Qualcomm's engineering and research-and-development activities and operate substantially all of its products and services businesses, including QCT. Snapdragon and other Qualcomm-branded products are offered through QTI and/or its subsidiaries.

This structure reinforces the distinction between Qualcomm's physical/product technology operations and the parent company's licensing of intellectual property.

Strategic Acquisitions

Qualcomm has used acquisitions to add capabilities that support its broader computing strategy.

Notable recent examples include:

• NUVIA — custom CPU engineering;

• Alphawave Semi — high-speed connectivity, chiplets and custom silicon for data centres; and

• Modular — AI-native software infrastructure.

These acquisitions expand Qualcomm's technology stack beyond the semiconductor products historically associated with smartphones.

Qualcomm Strategy

Qualcomm's current strategy is built around diversifying beyond handsets while extending AI, computing and connectivity across a wider range of markets.

Diversification Beyond Smartphones

Smartphones remain central to Qualcomm, but management wants a substantially larger share of QCT revenue to come from other businesses.

At its June 24, 2026 Investor Day, Qualcomm raised its target for non-handset QCT revenue to $40 billion by fiscal 2029.

The company set fiscal 2029 targets of:

• $10 billion in automotive revenue;

• more than $14 billion in IoT revenue; and

• more than $15 billion in data-centre revenue.

These are company targets, not guaranteed future results. They show management's intended direction rather than a certainty about future revenue.

Qualcomm reiterated the broader $40 billion non-handset goal when it reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 results in July 2026.

AI From the Edge to the Data Centre

Qualcomm historically emphasized AI processing on devices such as smartphones, PCs and vehicles.

Its strategy is now broader.

At the edge, Qualcomm wants AI to run directly on devices and machines using its CPU, GPU, NPU and connectivity technologies. At the infrastructure level, the company is developing data-centre platforms for AI inference.

The result is a strategy spanning what Qualcomm describes as the compute continuum: personal devices, vehicles, industrial machines, edge infrastructure and large-scale data centres.

Automotive, Industrial and Physical AI

Automotive and industrial computing give Qualcomm additional markets in which to reuse technologies originally refined around mobile devices.

Cars increasingly require powerful local computing, connectivity and AI. Industrial machines and robots need many of the same capabilities but operate under different reliability, lifecycle and environmental requirements.

Qualcomm is therefore attempting to turn its mobile-era strengths into platforms for software-defined vehicles, industrial edge AI and physical AI.

Building a More Complete Technology Stack

The NUVIA, Alphawave Semi and Modular acquisitions reveal another strategic priority: Qualcomm wants greater control over more layers of the computing platform.

Those layers increasingly include:

• custom CPUs;

• GPUs and NPUs;

• cellular and wireless connectivity;

• high-speed data-centre connectivity;

• custom silicon;

• AI software; and

• developer infrastructure.

The goal is not merely to sell individual chips but to offer increasingly integrated computing platforms across devices and infrastructure.

Key Challenges and Risks

Qualcomm's diversification creates significant opportunities, but its business also faces several company-specific risks.

Customer Concentration and Vertical Integration

Qualcomm depends heavily on a relatively small number of large customers and licensees.

Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each accounted for at least 10% of consolidated revenue in fiscal 2025.

At the same time, major customers increasingly design their own semiconductor components. Qualcomm specifically expects Apple to increase use of internally developed modem products, reducing demand for Qualcomm modems. Samsung, Xiaomi and other customers also have internal semiconductor capabilities.

Qualcomm therefore faces the unusual risk that an important customer can gradually become a competitor.

Dependence on External Manufacturing

Qualcomm's fabless model allows it to avoid the enormous capital cost of owning leading-edge semiconductor fabrication plants.

The trade-off is dependence on external foundries, assembly providers and global supply chains.

Capacity shortages, manufacturing problems, geopolitical disruption or restrictions affecting key suppliers could limit Qualcomm's ability to meet customer demand.

China and Geopolitical Exposure

China is an important market for Qualcomm.

The company generates substantial revenue from Chinese OEMs and from other manufacturers selling products into China. It also depends on parts of the broader Chinese technology and semiconductor supply chain.

Qualcomm identifies U.S.-China trade relations, export restrictions, national-security policies and China's semiconductor self-sufficiency efforts as material risks.

Licensing and Regulatory Risk

QTL depends on Qualcomm's ability to maintain and enforce intellectual-property rights and licensing arrangements.

The company has historically faced legal and regulatory challenges concerning patent licensing, royalty rates and competition law. Changes to licensing practices, patent rules or regulatory requirements could reduce licensing revenue or increase legal costs.

Because QTL has historically produced higher margins than the semiconductor-products business, changes to licensing economics can have a disproportionate effect on profitability and cash generation.

Competition in New Markets

Qualcomm has a long-established position in mobile technology, but several diversification markets contain competitors with longer histories or stronger customer relationships.

PCs require software compatibility and broad hardware adoption. Automotive systems involve long development and qualification cycles. Industrial customers may require extended product support. Data-centre buyers expect mature hardware, networking, software and developer ecosystems.

Qualcomm's success therefore depends on converting technical capability into sustained customer adoption in markets where it cannot rely solely on its historical smartphone position.

Product Reliability and Security

Qualcomm's products increasingly perform important functions inside cars, industrial systems, networking equipment and AI systems.

Defects or security vulnerabilities can therefore create consequences beyond ordinary consumer-device failures. Qualcomm's 10-K specifically identifies product defects, cybersecurity vulnerabilities and the stringent requirements of automotive applications as material risks.

Key Facts About Qualcomm

• Qualcomm operates two fundamentally different businesses: QCT sells semiconductor products and technology, while QTL licenses intellectual property.

• Qualcomm is predominantly fabless, relying on external foundries for much of its chip production while manufacturing certain RF-related products itself.

• Snapdragon is a product-platform brand, not another name for Qualcomm. The company also operates Dragonwing for industrial and infrastructure markets and is extending Dragonfly into data-centre AI.

• Qualcomm's corporate structure separates product operations from patent licensing. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. runs substantially all product and R&D activity, while Qualcomm Incorporated owns most of the patent portfolio and operates QTL.

• CDMA helped shape Qualcomm's business model. Early wireless research created both commercial technology and intellectual property that later supported the company's licensing business.

• NUVIA, Alphawave Semi and Modular represent three different pieces of Qualcomm's broader compute strategy: custom CPUs, high-speed data-centre connectivity and AI software.

• Qualcomm increasingly spans both sides of AI computing: on-device and edge AI on one side, and large-scale data-centre inference infrastructure on the other.

• Its diversification strategy is expansion, not replacement. Smartphones remain the largest QCT business even as Qualcomm targets much larger automotive, IoT and data-centre revenue.

Qualcomm Case Studies

No published WeCaseStudy Qualcomm case studies were supplied with this Company Profile.

Explore upcoming case studies examining Qualcomm's diversification beyond smartphones, Snapdragon strategy, automotive expansion, technology-licensing model, NUVIA and Oryon development, and move into AI data-centre infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Qualcomm do?

Qualcomm designs semiconductor platforms, wireless and connectivity technologies, AI systems and computing technology used in smartphones, PCs, cars, industrial equipment and data centres. It also earns revenue by licensing portions of its intellectual-property portfolio.

How does Qualcomm make money?

Qualcomm primarily makes money through QCT, which sells semiconductor products and technology, and QTL, which earns licensing and royalty revenue from Qualcomm intellectual property.

Is Snapdragon owned by Qualcomm?

Yes. Snapdragon is a Qualcomm technology brand used across mobile, PC, automotive and other computing products. Snapdragon products are offered through Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Does Qualcomm manufacture its own chips?

Qualcomm is primarily a fabless semiconductor company, meaning external foundries manufacture most of the advanced integrated circuits it designs. Qualcomm does manufacture certain radio-frequency front-end products.

What is the difference between Qualcomm QCT and QTL?

QCT is Qualcomm's semiconductor and technology-products business. QTL is its intellectual-property licensing business. QCT mainly earns product revenue, while QTL mainly earns licensing and royalty revenue.

Who is the CEO of Qualcomm?

Cristiano R. Amon is President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm Incorporated. He became CEO on June 30, 2021.

Is Qualcomm only a smartphone-chip company?

No. Smartphones remain Qualcomm's largest semiconductor market, but the company also operates in automotive computing, PCs, industrial IoT, networking, robotics, edge AI and data-centre infrastructure.

Who are Qualcomm's main competitors?

Qualcomm competes with different companies in different markets. Its fiscal 2025 filing names examples including Broadcom, MediaTek, Nvidia, Mobileye, NXP, Samsung, Qorvo, Skyworks, Texas Instruments, HiSilicon and UNISOC. Qualcomm also faces competition from customers such as Apple and Samsung developing more semiconductor technology internally.

What is Qualcomm's strategy beyond smartphones?

Qualcomm is trying to expand revenue from automotive, IoT, PCs, industrial systems, robotics and data centres while continuing to maintain its mobile business. The company has targeted $40 billion in non-handset QCT revenue by fiscal 2029, although that figure is a management target rather than a guaranteed outcome.

Resources:

• Qualcomm fiscal 2025 Form 10-K — financial results, business segments, customers, competition and risks

• Qualcomm 2026 Investor Day — diversification and fiscal 2029 targets

• Qualcomm fiscal Q3 2026 results — current diversification commentary

• Qualcomm Company — corporate overview and history

• Qualcomm history of innovation — CDMA, Snapdragon and wireless milestones

• Cristiano Amon leadership profile — current CEO information

• Qualcomm Oryon CPU — current custom CPU platform information

• Snapdragon Digital Chassis — automotive platform overview

• Qualcomm Dragonwing — industrial, embedded and networking portfolio

• Qualcomm completes acquisition of Alphawave Semi — December 2025

• Qualcomm completes acquisition of Modular — July 2026

• Qualcomm and BMW expanded automotive agreement — July 2026

• Qualcomm Dragonfly data-centre strategy — June 2026