A court approval earlier this week cleared the way for the $2.4 billion acquisition to be wrapped up today (18 December), opening access to Alphawave Semi’s custom silicon, connectivity products and chiplets.

Qualcomm explained Alphawave Semi’s work is foundational in next-generation services in fields including data centres, networking and storage, and AI.

Amon said the addition of Alphawave Semi’s technologies would “strengthen our platforms and optimise performance for next-generation AI data centres”.

Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU is used in various Snapdragon platforms and the Hexagon NPU is dedicated to AI.

Amon previously explained Alphawave Semi would contribute to Qualcomm targets involving the performance and efficiency of its CPU and NPU processors.

Qualcomm originally expected to conclude the deal in the opening three months of 2026.

Alphawave Semi co-founder and CEO Tony Pialis is now set to lead Qualcomm’s data centre business.

He predicted the pair would “help shape the future of data centre innovation” by employing Alphawave Semi’s high-speed connectivity tech and custom silicon.

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The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 mobile platform is designed to handle growing use of AI on smartphones, offering interfaces with the technology using device hardware including microphone and sensors.

Qualcomm stated its AI Engine optimises access to agentic assistant services, a set-up tipped to provide user experience benefits.

Chris Patrick, SVP and general manager of mobile handset, said the platform puts “users at the centre of their mobile experiences”.

OnePlus was highlighted as being close to launching devices using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. Other vendors lined up include Honor, Meizu, Motorola, vivo and iQOO.

The platform runs a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU which it stated offers up to a 46 per cent improvement in AI performance compared with its previous-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU provides peak speeds of up to 3.8GHz and it recorded a 36 per cent improvement in performance along with a 76 per cent gain in web browsing responsiveness.

The platform employs Qualcomm’s Adreno GPU using a sliced architecture to up clock speeds, and boost gaming and graphics performance by 11 per cent.

Connectivity options include 5G and Bluetooth 6.0.

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Qualcomm detailed plans to establish the AI Engineering Centre at a Humain facility in Riyadh, advancing a previous data centre access arrangement.

The centre is scheduled to open next month, focusing on accelerating the development and deployment of Humain edge-to-cloud services, along with broadening access to the Saudi company’s AI services.

Qualcomm’s engineering site is also tasked with integrating AI models, and developing the technology and broader market.

President and CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured, left), said the facility would “serve as a key technology and ecosystem development hub”.

Humain CEO Tareq Amin (pictured, right) added the companies hope to “unlock value across industries” and establish a leading position in AI technology.

JV
The Saudi Public Investment Fund company separately agreed to establish a joint venture with Cisco and AMD to deliver up to 1GW of AI infrastructure by 2030.

Humain, Cisco and AMD are to be founding investors in the JV, which they aim to have operational in 2026 with the deployment of 100MW of capacity.

The business will draw on Humain’s data centres, AMD’s Instinct MI450 series GPUs and Cisco’s critical infrastructure.

Amin said the JV would push “the frontier of AI compute” and provide the capacity needed to meet demand in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

Cisco research indicates GPU capacity is currently a limitation on Saudi Arabia’s AI ambitions despite a majority of companies plotting moves involving agentic iterations.

CEO Chuck Robbins believes the JV will provide the “secure, scalable, critical infrastructure” needed to deliver on Saudi Arabia’s “vision for a digitally advanced” economy based on AI.

AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su explained collaborations are key to providing “high-performance global AI infrastructure at scale”, adding the company intends to establish a centre of excellence to drive innovation and oversee integration.

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The company took a one-time, non-cash tax-related charge of $5.7 billion related to the passing of the bill earlier this year. It recorded a net loss of $3.1 billion compared with a $2.9. billion profit in the comparable period of fiscal 2024.

Qualcomm’s business is split into its QCT segment, which includes handset, IoT and automotive revenue, and its QTL segment comprising technology licensing.

Revenue in Qualcomm’s handsets business rose 14 per cent to $6.9 billion, which CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured) said was driven by strong customer demand for its flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 system-on-chip on premium Android handsets.

He noted the automotive sector set a quarterly record of $1 billion, up 17 per cent, while IoT revenue rose 7 per cent to 1.8 billion .

“All three QCT revenue streams exceeded our expectations,” he said on a call to discuss the numbers.

Overall QCT revenue of $9.8 billion was up 13 per cent and QTL generated $1.4 billion, 7 per cent higher.

Qualcomm predicts fiscal Q1 2026 revenue of $11.8 billion to $12.6 billion, above an average analyst estimate of $11.6 billion shown by London Stock Exchange data.

CFO Akash Palkhiwala said Qualcomm expects its non-GAAP tax rate to remain in the 13 per cent to 14 per cent range and “lower cash tax payments relative to prior expectations”.

Qualcomm forecast fiscal Q1 QTC revenue of between $10.3 billion and $10.9 billion and QTL $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion.

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Humain is lining up access to 200MW of capacity on Qualcomm AI200 and AI250 racks to offer AI services in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

The deal advances an agreement Humain and Qualcomm signed in May covering AI developments involving data centres, edge and cloud services in Saudi Arabia, which in turn forms part of the Kingdom’s broader ambitions involving the technology.

Humain CEO Tarek Amin (pictured, left) said the company is combining its “deep regional insight and unique full AI stack capabilities with Qualcomm’s unmatched semiconductors”.

The company’s ALLaM AI models are set to be integrated with Qualcomm’s platforms, a combination they expect to boost Saudi Arabian ambitions involving the technology.

Services are to be provided to government organisations and enterprises.

Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured, right) said the companies are “laying the groundwork for transformative AI-driven innovation” and assisting Saudi Arabia in becoming a global hub for the technology.

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Mobile World Live‘s Justin Springham has the best bits from the keynote conference, where ‘enterprise’ and ‘AI’ were the words on everyone’s mind.

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Tinic, Qualcomm’s CIO, stated people in the role are transitioning from technical architects to requiring a deep understanding of business outcomes while managing AI agents.

“You have a new digital worker in the environment in the form of an AI agent,” he said. “The way that worker operates is completely different. It’s going to be able to handle more complex solutions.”

For workflows, he explained AI agents can handle massive amounts of data while performing multiple tasks in parallel.

“I think it’s going to be majorly transformative within the ecosystem itself,” he added.

Tinic stated Qualcomm’s digital transformation set it up nicely for AI agents, but instead of doing application workflow in the cloud it will now run its AI workflow on-site.

“I can’t think of anything that’s more important right now than your data strategy,” he said. “That’s going to power your workflow, but it’s [also] going to power those AI agents in terms of giving them the information they need to do deep reasoning and your integration patterns”.

“The good news is if you made great progress on your digital transformation, you’re probably in good shape. If you didn’t make the progress you wanted to on your digital transformation, then you have homework to do still.”

He advised CIOs to view AI not just as a use case but as a fundamental re-architecture requiring questions about workflows, skills, security and integration to prepare for a new era where AI agents are integral workforce members. 

“Now we’re in a world where we have to think about ourselves as business architects because part of that workforce is being governed by the IT organisation,” he said. “I can’t think of a time where it’s more imperative for CIOs to really understand the business and the business outcomes because you’re going to be at the heart of it.”

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In a statement, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) made the admission around two days after it announced plans to launch an antitrust probe into the acquisition, completed in June 2025, investigating if the deal broke its anti-monopoly laws.

SAMR revealed when Qualcomm struck an initial deal to buy the Israeli automotive chip company in 2023, it had conducted an initial investigation which found evidence the tie-up could eliminate or restrict competition.

In March 2024 it submitted a written notice to Qualcomm stating it would need to approve the transaction. However, Qualcomm then told SAMR it would not be proceeding with the deal.

A year later, Qualcomm announced it had completed the deal, but it had done so “without filing a filing or communicating with our bureau”, said SAMR.

“Based on clear fact and conclusive evidence, our bureau initiated an investigation into Qualcomm’s acquisition of Autotalks as an illegal concentration of undertakings,” added the statement.

News of the probe comes as the US and China continue to jostle for position in an escalating trade war.

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100 per cent tariffs on imports from China from next month, while hinting he could cancel a planned meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

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In a brief statement, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation outlined plans to examine the US chipmaker’s takeover of the V2X technology provider, which was completed in June.

Chinese regulators stated it would look at whether Qualcomm is in breach of potential violations of the country’s anti-monopoly laws.

Bloomberg noted news of the investigation comes as US President Donald Trump is set to hold talks with China President Xi Jinping, with both countries seeking leverage ahead of the expiration of a trade truce between the two nations.

According to Israeli media, Qualcomm paid a cut-price of $80 million to $90 million for Autotalks, well below a price of around $350 million it agreed in an original deal two years ago.

Qualcomm abandoned the initial deal, struck in 2023, blaming regulatory scrutiny after it faced probes from the European Commission, UK’s Capital Market Authority and the US Federal Trade Commission.

When finally completing the deal in June 2025, Qualcomm stated it would incorporate Autotalks V2X communications products into its own Snapdragon Digital Chassis portfolio.

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Arduino is set to maintain its independence in terms of branding and tooling, meaning its backing for a wide range of microcontrollers and processors from various semiconductor makers should be maintained.

Qualcomm stated it is pursuing the buy to advance its standing as a provider of hardware, software and cloud services. Arduino builds on “recent integrations of Edge Impulse and Foundries.io”, it explained.

Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm group GM for Automotive, Industrial and Embedded IoT, said the shopping spree accelerates a goal to broaden access to its AI and computing products.

Qualcomm predicted developers working across industries stand to benefit from the combination of its processing, graphics, computer vision and AI technology with the simplicity, affordability and open-source community of Arduino.

More than 33 million active Arduino users are in line to gain access to Qualcomm’s technology and global reach, though the company’s “open approach and community spirit” are to be preserved.

The pair will base their collaboration on Arduino’s next-generation UNO Q single board computer, which runs a Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 processor in a full Linux environment to provide AI-equipped vision and sound systems capable of being deployed in smart home or industrial automation settings.

Qualcomm described UNO Q as “designed to become the go-to tool for every developer”. It explained the board is the first compatible with the Arduino App Lab, an environment produced to speed development by smoothing the use of Real-time OS, Linux, Python and AI flows.

The post Qualcomm lines up Arduino buy appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Which? stated 29 million UK Apple and Samsung smartphone owners could be in line for an average payout of £17 each after the trial at the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

The trial is expected to last for five weeks and is focused on whether Qualcomm held market power and, if so, if it abused it. Which? explained if it wins this part, a second trial would be held to determine the US company’s conduct and potential financial damage.

Which? believes the financial hit to consumers tallies to £480 million.

“This trial is a huge moment,” Which? CEO Anabel Hoult said.

“It shows how the power of consumers, backed by Which?, can be used to hold the biggest companies to account if they abuse their dominant position.”

Which? believes Qualcomm broke UK competition law by using its dominant position in patent-licensing and chip sectors to inflate the price device makers pay for licences.

It argues the higher prices were passed on to consumers.

The group is seeking damages for affected Apple and Samsung smartphones purchased between 1 October 2015 and 9 January 2024. It noted Qualcomm faced similar investigations and court action in other nations.

Which? explained rules included in the Consumer Rights Act of 2015 allow it to lead a class-action style case against Qualcomm and potentially establish a legal precedent.

The post Qualcomm tackled over UK smartphone claims appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Vodafone names Samsung as open RAN supplier

What happened: Vodafone selected Samsung as a key supplier for its large-scale open RAN deployment across multiple European markets, with the South Korean vendor set to provide its virtualised RAN (vRAN) and O-RAN-compliant radio units, with support for 2G, 4G and 5G technologies.

Why it matters: Samsung stated its latest radios will enable wide-scale open RAN adoption in European regions. By supporting diverse spectrum bands and high transmit power, their equipment will help reduce hardware costs and energy consumption while delivering high-performing shared networks. The announcement comes after Samsung was excluded from £2 billion contracts awarded by the recently merged VodafoneThree to Ericsson and Nokia last month to help support its 5G network rollout across the UK. At the time, the South Korean vendor told Mobile World Live it respected VodafoneThree’s decision to “consolidate their existing vendor relationships”. According to Sam Jackman, chief development officer at infrastructure company Shared Access, Samsung’s exclusion could have signalled “a cut back to more traditional vendors from the open-RAN model Vodafone seemed to be pursuing”. However, the latest move cements Samsung’s role in the Open-RAN rollout led by Vodafone, which, according to Justin Jwa, head of account management EMEA at Samsung Electronics, is one of the vendor’s “most strategic partners in Europe”.

Qualcomm declares full victory in Arm legal battle

What happened: Qualcomm secured a full legal victory in its long-running licensing dispute with Arm after a US district court dismissed the final remaining claim in the case.

Why it matters: The lawsuit, filed by Arm in 2022, alleged that Qualcomm and its subsidiary Nuvia breached an architecture license agreement related to CPU technology following Qualcomm’s $1.4 billion acquisition of Nuvia in 2021. The final ruling concluded Nuvia did not breach the agreement, closing the door on Arm’s request for a retrial. Qualcomm general counsel Ann Chaplin stated the ruling marks a “full and final judgment”, however Arm declared that it will file an appeal, despite the court’s position that the case is closed. Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research told Bloomberg the win clears Qualcomm to “deploy Nuvia technology across a much broader spectrum”, including PC, automotive, robotics and AI applications. However, Richard Windsor, founder of Radio Free Mobile, warned the fight is far from over as Qualcomm’s separate lawsuit accusing Arm of anti-competitive behaviour is expected to go to trial in 2026. Yet, in Windsor’s view, the biggest unintended winner of the dispute is competitor Intel, “which remains in deep trouble but is being given more breathing space as a result of two of its biggest rivals fighting each other”.

Korean giants join OpenAI Stargate effort

What happened: South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Group joined OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate initiative, securing a major role in AI infrastructure development.

Why it matters: Under the agreements, Samsung and SK Hynix will scale production of advanced memory chips, targeting 900,000 DRAM wafers every month, which marks more than double current HBM capacity. These chips are crucial for powering the ChatGPT-maker’s advanced AI models. The companies will also explore AI data centre development in Korea, including sites outside Seoul, and deploy ChatGPT Enterprise and API capabilities internally. Market reaction to the deals was favourable as, according to Euro News, SK Hynix shares jumped by around 10 per cent and Samsung Electronics climbed more than 3 per cent, reflecting strong investor optimism. The deals also mark a significant step for Korea in establishing itself as a global AI hub. Indeed, Oliver Jay, OpenAI International MD, highlighted that with its “world-class talent, infrastructure and forward-looking government support,” the country “has all the ingredients to lead globally in AI and shape what’s next’.

The post Vodafone taps Samsung; Qualcomm scores legal win appeared first on Mobile World Live.

It stated the court rejected Arm’s “attempts to stifle innovation”, confirming neither it or subsidiary Nuvia breached an architecture licence agreement (ALA) for chip technology it acquired when it bought Nuvia four years ago.

The ruling dismisses the lone remaining claim in Arm’s lawsuit as it attempted to overturn the ALA decision after a victory for the US chipmaker during a trial in December 2024.

A jury decided “unanimously that Qualcomm did not breach the Nuvia ALA and that Qualcomm’s innovative CPU cores incorporating technology obtained in the Nuvia acquisition were properly licensed under Qualcomm’s own ALA”, it stated.

However, Arm separately stated it would “immediately file an appeal seeking to overturn the judgement”.

Full victory
Ann Chaplin, general counsel and corporate secretary at Qualcomm, said the court’s decision today (1 October) means Qualcomm and Nuvia “have achieved full victory”.

She noted the decision came after its success in the trial in December 2024 “and is a full and final judgement in Qualcomm’s favour”.

“Our right to innovate prevailed in this case and we hope Arm will return to fair and competitive practices in dealing with the Arm ecosystem.”

Neil Shah, VP at Counterpoint Research told Bloomberg the victory is significant because it allows Qualcomm to deploy Nuvia technology “across a much broader spectrum of applications, from PCs, smartphones and automotive, to high-performance computing domains like AI servers and even humanoid robots”.

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Qualcomm CEO and president Cristiano Amon (pictured) kicked off the conference for Snapdragon aficionados on Tuesday (23 September) by stating during his keynote agentic AI will create an “ecosystem of you” across smart glasses, mobile devices and connected cars.

“We’re going to make this tech, which is already very personal, into the most personal technology ever,” Amon stated.

Radio Free Mobile founder Richard Windsor stated in a research note the heart of Qualcomm’s proposition is the idea that the way that humans interact with technology is going to change from using many apps to interacting with a single agent on their devices.

While agentic AI is another element of Amon’s long-stated goal of diversifying the company’s bottom line beyond mobile, Windsor stated he is not yet convinced of AI agents’ ubiquity.

“It is possible that the popularity of AI agents on glasses and in cars drives adoption in other device categories, but this remains just a theory,” Windsor explained. “Crucially for Qualcomm over the next few years, it doesn’t matter whether AI agents take off, as I do not think that it will materially influence the investment case in the company, which is predicated on diversification away from smartphones, which is happening with or without AI agents.”

6G
Amon said 6G is designed to be the connection between the cloud and the edge devices. He explained the difference between 5G and 6G “is the network of intelligence connecting the edge and the cloud, merging the physical and the digital, providing connected experiences”.

“We are ready to have pre-commercial devices ready with 6G as early as 2028,” he said.

Android for PCs
Amon shared the keynote stage with Rick Osterloh, Google’s head of platforms and devices, during the opening keynote. Osterloh teased Google merging Android with the company’s ChromeOS.

“In the past, we’ve always had very different systems between what we’re building on PCs and what we’re building on smartphones, and we’ve embarked on a project to combine that,” Osterloh said. “We are building together a common technical foundation for our products on PCs and desktop computing systems.”

He explained Google plans to bring Gemini and the full Android AI stack, along with “all of our applications and developer community,” into the PC ecosystem, which will be another way Android will “be able to serve everyone in every computing category”.

“I’ve seen it,” Amon responded. “It is incredible. It delivers on the vision of convergence of mobile and PC. I can’t wait to have one.”

Chips
At the summit, Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset which is its latest flagship SoC. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 follows on last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC but under a new branding scheme.

It comes equipped with a third-generation Oryon CPU with boosted single- and multi-core performance  

The chip’s Hexagon NPU marks a 37 per cent improvement in overall performance and 16 per cent improvement in efficiency over the previous generation and comes with an emphasis on personalised, on-device AI experiences. Windsor noted the Hexagon NPU supports 2-bit inference for the first time.

“This is a good performance improvement, but I think it is the 2-bit inference that is the most interesting. This is because models that were previously running in 4-bit will now take up half the space and require half the compute power to run.”

The chip competes against the Apple A19 Pro chipset in the recently released iPhone 17 family of devices.

“Qualcomm has launched a very capable processor and keeps its edge over the competition when it comes to high-end smartphones,” Windsor said.

Qualcomm’s premium chip will be available on devices over the coming days from OEMs such as Honor, OnePlus, Samsung, Sony, Vivo, and Xiaomi.

On the PC front, Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite chips to compete against Intel and AMD in the Windows ecosystem.

The new processors are equipped with third-gen Oryon CPU with up to 18 cores onboard, six more than their predecessors.

Qualcomm claims that the X2 Elite Extreme gets up to 39 per cent faster peak single-core performance and 50 percent multi-core performance improvement compared to the previous generation.

The chipmaker stated the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme has “up to 75 percent faster CPU performance than competition at ISO power”.

“This has more cores and provides a performance improvement over X Elite of 50 per cent in CPU, 100 per cent GPU and 70 percent in NPU and is the first Arm processor to run at 5GHz,” Windsor said.

He stated the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme “was where Qualcomm really stuck the knife into the x86 crowd”.

“The key to competing against Intel and AMD in this space has always been performance per watt rather than pure performance,” he explained.  “Here, the X2 Elite Extreme Edition produces 44 per cent more performance than x86 at the same level of power consumption on single-threaded performance.”

Windsor stated for multi-threaded performance, Qualcomm claims a 75 percent performance advantage at comparable power consumption while x86 consumes 222 per cent more power at peak performance compared to the X2 Elite Extreme.

“Qualcomm is also beginning to address Windows on Arm’s biggest weakness, which is gaming, where both Epic Games and Razer are optimising their products to run on the X2 Elite,” he said.

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Qualcomm stated the broadened arrangement would help meet automotive manufacturers’ demand for shorter time-to-market for automated driving systems.

The companies already offer a product combining various Qualcomm Snapdragon chips and software with Valeo nous in parking software algorithms, sensors, ECUs, and integration and validation.

Qualcomm explained they are now looking to provide a package of sensors, compute unit, hands-free driving apps, occupant monitoring and high-standard safety features. Vehicle makers will be offered various configurations ranging from basic to more complex set-ups for software-defined vehicles.

Nakul Duggal, group GM for Automotive and Industrial and Embedded IoT at Qualcomm, said the deeper integration with Valeo will enable vehicle makers to “accelerate innovation” and improve the efficiency of providing “next generation driving experiences”.

Valeo Brain CEO Marc Vrecko added the companies would deliver a “flexible, future-ready platform that meets the evolving expectations of drivers worldwide”.

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Snapdragon Ride Pilot employs Qualcomm’s namesake system-on-chips and software stack to provide autonomous driving capabilities of up to Level 2, meaning vehicles can drive themselves in many motorway and urban road situations.

Qualcomm stated the system is approved for use in more than 60 countries, a figure expected to top 100 in 2026. The system is being showcased on BMW’s iX3 model, though will also be sold to other vehicle manufacturers.

Nakul Duggal, group GM of Qualcomm’s Automotive and Industrial and Embedded IoT unit, said the automated driving set-up delivers “safety and comfort”, and the companies expect “widespread adoption”.

Development spanned more than 1,400 specialists based in the US and a host of European nations. Mihiar Ayoubi, SVP of Development Driving Experience with BMW, said teams developed a “cutting-edge driver assistance system” which is a “significant contribution to the big technological leap” the company is taking in a fresh range of its cars.

Safety features include a 360-degree camera arrangement to detect objects, road lanes and signage, and parking spaces. Qualcomm explained a birds-eye view and fish-eye lenses enhance the system’s perceptive capabilities.

The system complies with NCAP, FMVSS127 and DCAS automotive safety specifications, tackles potential dangers created by limitations in the set-up and is geared up for cybersecurity.

Qualcomm added a mix of “rule-based and AI models” are used for “behaviour prediction” and planning to prepare the automated system for “complex driving scenarios”.

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The Kryo 64-bit CPU architecture delivers peak speeds of up to 2.7GHz and Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4+ Technology powers a device battery up to 50 per cent in around five minutes.

Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 includes generative AI capabilities compatible with large language models and vision models including Meta Platform’s Llama 1B and Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen 1B.

AI-enhanced camera capabilities include Qualcomm’s Spectra Triple ISP to enable concurrent photo and video, fluid zooming and parallel processing, along with 200MP images and 4K HDR video.

Qualcomm’s AI Remosaic advanced image processing technology uses machine learning to reduce discoloration in photos.

It also includes Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite Gaming features and compatibility for wide, full high definition plus display resolution with a refresh rate of 144Hz and HDR10+ displays.

A Qualcomm representative told Mobile World Live commercial devices are expected to be announced in the coming months, starting with Redmi.

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On the earnings call, Amon (pictured) said the acquisition to buy Alphawave “is a logical extension of our diversification strategy as we continue to demonstrate leadership in CPU performance and NPU efficiency”.

Qualcomm is currently building NPU-based AI inference accelerator cards as well as custom SoCs for general purpose and AI head node compute offerings using its Orion CPU.

“Alphawave’s leading IP and data centres design capabilities are key assets that will complement our Orion CPU and Hexagon NPU processors and help accelerate a roadmap,” Amon said.

He explained Qualcomm is in the early stage of its expansion into the data centre sector and is engaged with multiple potential customers, as well as conducting advanced discussions with a leading hyperscaler.

“If successful, we expect revenues to begin in the fiscal 28 timeframe,” he stated.

Amon added there is a new dynamic in the marketplace, which is about ability to be efficient with tokens-per-dollar as well as energy, which are seen as opportunities for Qualcomm.

“For that, we have been building accelerator cards, and we will be building a rack as well,” Amon stated. “The Alphawave IP is important. It provides us the ability to scale out and provide connectivity.

“We believe it’s leading connectivity in the industry.”

The acquisition is expected to close during the early months of 2026.

Q3 numbers
Qualcomm’s Q3 revenue increased by 10 per cent year-on-year to $10.3 billion with net income of $2.6 billion, up from $2.1 billion.

Revenue in the company’s equipment and services segment, which includes chips, rose 11 per cent to $8.8 billion.

The company’s licensing revenue also increased, up 5.1 per cent to $1.4 billion.

Driven by strong demand for premium tier devices, Qualcomm’s handset chip business reported $6.3 billion in revenue, up 7 per cent but just below of Wall Street expectations of $6.4 billion.

Revenue from chips used in vehicles increased by 21 per cent to $984 million.

IoT connected-device revenue was up 24 per cent to $1.6 billion, which Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala stated was due to increased demand for its AR1 chipset.

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A day after unveiling its latest foldable smartphones and Watch, panellists at the Samsung Tech Forum said AI will play a big part in reshaping the healthcare sector by providing a bridge between clinical data and home-monitoring systems.

Xealth co-founder and CEO Mike McSherry (pictured, left) explained the deal with Samsung would unlock the potential to bring consumer-oriented devices into the mix of more traditionally hospital-based equipment to enable functions including blood pressure monitoring and assessing blood-oxygen levels.

McSherry pointed to smartphones along with wearables including watches or rings as devices likely to substitute for hospital-based equipment covering such functions.

“It’s going to be one packaged solution and that’s going to simplify care.”

Samsung and Xealth want to make it easier to provide real-time insights to hospitals, in-turn targeting a role in preventing chronic conditions by using wearables for early detection and ongoing monitoring.

Hon Pak, SVP and head of Digital Health Team at Samsung, said the Xealth acquisition advances the vendor’s goals for the sector through sheer scale.

The digital health platform counts more than 500 hospitals and 70 service providers among its customers, a pool Samsung intends to tap by connecting wearable data and information with clinical workflows.

Samsung argued this would deliver a more unified and seamless healthcare experience, helping to tackle data siloes which can degrade quality of care.

Pak said there is clamour from patients and consumers for improvements. He highlighted Samsung’s work with dedicated companies to create systems “where healthcare can truly make a difference” which Xealth will advance.

AI could prove a lynchpin for smarter health initiatives: panellists noted it might ease professionals’ workloads by tackling administrative tasks and highlighting relevant insights when they are needed. Samsung argued Xealth adds the interface required to achieve this.

Smart devices were tipped to encourage a shift from hospital-based care to home-based, with the data they produce being analysed by AI.

Rasu Shrestha, EVP and chief innovation and commercialisation officer with Samsung partner Advocate Health (pictured, left), explained there is a growing need to change how healthcare is provided, but to do so requires collaboration.

He said no “one entity” can “heroically go in and save healthcare”.

“It really takes an ecosystem.”

Shrestha predicted Samsung’s purchase of Xealth would boost the entire play by providing an open and curated sector which could address the many challenges being faced.

Smarter phones
Collaboration was a watchword in an earlier panel in which experts explored how the role of smartphones is evolving and why platform integration matters.

Jisun Park, corporate EVP and head of Language AI Team, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business, highlighted consumers are already employing the technology in droves, stating more than 70 per cent of users had engaged with relevant features since the launch of its Galaxy S25 smartphone range in January.

Samsung is exploring the next steps towards what it calls Ambient Intelligence, a derivative of the technology which is more intuitive and proactive, but also nearly invisible.

Park argued AI does not spell the end of the smartphone. Instead the technology will make them cleverer, enabling the devices to act intuitively based on users’ needs.

Future models will not “just respond”. They will “become smarter to anticipate, see and work quietly in the background to make life feel a little more effortless”.

An examination conducted over a 12-month period by Samsung and research company Symmetry showed 60 per cent of users want smartphones to foresee what they need based on daily habits without any input.

The argument for collaboration was given by Mindy Brooks, VP of Android consumer product and experience at Google (pictured, right).

Brooks highlighted a collaboration with Samsung which she said ensured Google’s Gemini AI “works seamlessly across devices”, tapping “first-party apps” to deliver tailored responses.

The approach is a sign of how AI is evolving to deliver more than just general responses to queries, a shift involving a greater understanding of what users are looking for and so then beginning to anticipate individual needs to provide a more natural experience.

Qualcomm VP of product management Vinesh Sukumar highlighted a need to improve security to protect the growing amount of data generated from more personalised AI.

“For us, privacy, performance and personalisation go hand in hand”.

Sukumar argued the best protection is delivered on-device, an approach enabling users to “know where their data is and who controls it”. His words echoed an argument made by Durga Malladi, SVP and GM for technology planning and edge solutions in 2024.

Brooks noted personalisation goes beyond daily routines, explaining Google sees it as a key factor in the emerging field of agentic AI for Android devices.

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CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured, right) signed the Rome Call in Vatican City earlier today (13 June).

Amon said the programme complements Qualcomm’s “Responsible AI Principles” and core purpose to develop products which “respect privacy, minimise potential harm and advance societies”.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the RenAIssance Foundation (pictured, left), noted recently-appointed Pope Leo XIV is keen to continue the ethical AI push introduced by predecessor Pope Francis in 2020.

The cleric explained the urgency required to develop AI ethics sensed by the Church when it unveiled the Rome Call has only grown as the technology begins “shaping everyday life”.

“As Pope Leo XIV stated, AI is one of the challenges that define our time. Qualcomm’s commitment is a further significant contribution shaping the future of responsible AI.”

The Rome Call encourages governments, international organisations, institutions and the private sector to develop technology which benefits everyone. Qualcomm and the Church explained signatories commit to follow principles of “transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, security and privacy”.

Developments are overseen by the RenAIssance Foundation, a non-profit established in 2021 which encourages development of Rome Call-promoting activities by international organisations, governments and states, universities, research centres and more.

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Operating over 3.5GHz spectrum, the trial employed 1024 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and delivered peak download data rates of 1.7Gb/s at a range of 500 metres.

The companies noted the software-based enhancement increases spectral efficiency without requiring additional base station hardware, helping operators to meet growing data demand while reducing energy consumption.

Vodafone stated 1024 QAM is likely to play a central role in meeting rising mobile data demand in the years to 2030.

The test was conducted at a Vodafone facility in Spain, employing Nokia’s Habrok 64 Massive MIMO radios and a Xiaomi 15 Ultra smartphone powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform.

Vodafone chief network officer Alberto Ripepi said it aims to maximise 5G network performance to improve customer experience and broad industry adoption of the technology “at the network level and within the latest smartphones” will be key.

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Qualcomm president for global affairs Alex Roger vowed to continue investing in the country, covering initiatives to develop Vietnamese AI talent, the news service added.

A company executive told local media in April the centre would be its third-largest R&D facility in the world. The comment was made just weeks after it acquired local start-up MovianAI, the genAI division of Vingroup unit VinAI.

The vendor introduced its first R&D centre in Southeast Asia back in 2020 in Hanoi.

The opening of the centre, which has facilities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, comes less than a month after Qualcomm unveiled plans to set up a global engineering centre in Abu Dhabi, which will focus on advanced technologies and technical innovation in AI.

The company said it will work with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and the UAE government to expand the country’s technology ecosystem.

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The deal comes more than two months after the US chip giant initially made its move for UK-based Alphawave, and the agreed price represents a price of 183p per share.  

That is a 96 per cent premium on the closing share price on the last day of trading (31 March) before Qualcomm announced its bid.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon stated the two companies “share the goal of building advanced technology solutions and enabling next-level connected computing performance across a wide array of high growth areas, including data centre infrastructure”.

On its website, Alphawave states it designs industry-leading high speed solutions in areas including data centres, AI, 5G, data networking, autonomous vehicles and solid-state storage. It had close to 900 employees as of the end of 2023, with a forecasted addressable market of $39 billion by 2027.

Founded in Canada in 2017, Alphawave listed in London in 2021 when it went public and at the time was valued at £3.1 billion.

CEO Tony Pialis said the deal with Qualcomm would leave it “well positioned to expand our product offerings, reach a broader customer base and enhance our technological capabilities”.

He continued: “Together we will unlock new opportunities for growth, drive innovation and create the leading player in AI compute and connectivity solutions.”

It has been a busy June for Qualcomm so far already, after it also wrapped up a deal for vehicle to everything specialist Autotalks last week.

The deal for Alphawave is expected to close during the first calendar quarter of 2026.

Alphawave shareholders can either accept cash from Qualcomm or take stock in the US chip giant.

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Isreal-based Globes reported Qualcomm paid in the range of $80 million to $90 million for Autotalks, well below the alleged $350 million price tag touted in the original deal two years ago.

The first agreement faced regulatory hurdles shortly after being announced as 15 European Union member states requested the European Commission examine the tie-up. In announcing the probe, the EC explained the transaction would combine the two main suppliers of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) semiconductors in Europe.

The EC’s probe was followed by a similar investigation in the UK by the country’s Competition and Markets Authority. The US Federal Trade Commission also reportedly examined the transaction.

With the deal in hand, Qualcomm stated it will incorporate Autotalks’ V2X communications technology products into its own Snapdragon Digital Chassis portfolio.

Autotalks is a fabless semiconductor company founded in 2008, specialising in V2X communications. Its dual-mode standalone safety chips are used in manned and driverless vehicles to improve road safety.

The electric vehicle and autonomous driving sectors are emerging areas of growth for Qualcomm as it expands revenue opportunities beyond chips for mobile devices. Vehicle chip revenue was $959 million, up 59 per cent, in fiscal Q2 2025.

Nakul Duggal, group GM, automotive and industrial and embedded IoT for Qualcomm, stated the deal to buy Autotalks “is a strategic step in our ongoing efforts, advancing V2X solutions further for connected and automated vehicles”.

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The report by Cellular Insights states testing of the chips took place in New York City using T-Mobile US’ sub-6GHz standalone (SA) 5G network.

Apple’s iPhone 16e is the first to use its in-house C1 modem, but the report found it was slower than two Android devices equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X80 5G and Snapdragon X75 5G modem chips.

The iPhone and Android devices were tested across real-world radio environments; near-mid, mid and far cell in New York City.

Across three locations the Android devices were between 34.3 per cent and 35.2 per cent faster on the downlink, and 81.4 per cent to 90 per cent on the uplink.

While all three devices delivered comparable 5G performance under ideal, near-cell conditions, “performance deltas become increasingly pronounced as signal conditions deteriorated”.

“In particular, when the network shifted from TDD to FDD as the Primary Component Carrier (PCC) in poor RF environments, the iPhone 16e struggled to match Android performance on both downlink and uplink,” the study noted.

Cellular Insights added due to a lack of chipset level information on iOS, it was limited to analysing application throughput on the iPhone while Android allows full chipset-level access.

“Even with this limitation, the performance difference between Android devices and the iPhone 16e was tangible and observable,” the report stated.

Bloomberg reported in December 2024 Apple plans to replace Qualcomm’s modems with its in-house chips by 2027.

Apple is widely reported to have been working on its own modem since 2020. It spent $1 billion to acquire the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business in 2019.

The news agency stated Apple has accounted for roughly 20 per cent of Qualcomm’s revenue over the years, but Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon is diversifying revenue beyond handsets into areas such as automotive and IoT.

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The company listed 5G and edge AI among the technologies it plans to employ on the e& job, as the pair work to promote digital transformation among government, enterprise and industrial sectors.

Qualcomm explained the pair would develop industrial and enterprise 5G edge AI gateways for core verticals, providing Snapdragon-powered PCs and extended reality devices with built in generative AI capabilities.

Its work with e& will also cover smart mobility and systems focused on road safety, and an overall improvement in transportation infrastructure in the UAE.

The pair also have an eye on developing industrial IoT products.

A freshly-established Qualcomm engineering centre in UAE capital city Abu Dhabi will play a part in the e& project, evaluating use cases for sectors spanning energy, manufacturing, logistics, retail and smart mobility.

Hatem Dowidar, group CEO at e& (pictured, right) said its latest arrangement with Qualcomm would deliver “powerful AI to the edge” in “smart industrial gateways and wearables”, along with relevant infrastructure.

The executive predicted benefits including better security, and swifter and more reliable connectivity.

Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured, left) said the companies would encourage “significant collaboration across some of the most transformative technology areas”.

Saudi Arabia
Earlier this week, Qualcomm and Aramco Digital outlined a plan to collaborate on the development and launch of edge AI industrial IoT technologies and products, again with a focus on digitally transforming key sectors.

As with e&, devices play a role in the Aramco Digital deal, with the focus on advanced edge AI products for industrial settings and end-to-end systems based on Qualcomm technologies.

Qualcomm and Aramco Digital intend to use the latter’s 450MHz industrial 5G network to connect intelligent edge devices including smartphones, ruggedised terminals, robots, drones, cameras, sensors and other relevant IoT products.

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Hou discussed the plan with Vietnam’s deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung yesterday (16 April), VNExpress International reported.

Qualcomm already has an R&D site in Hanoi, but the fresh facility would be bested only by those in India and the Republic of Ireland in terms of scale, The Investor Vafie Magazine wrote.

The move would continue a recent focus by Qualcomm on Vietnam, coming a few weeks after it lined up an acquisition of local specialist MovianAI, the genAI unit of Vingroup company VinAI.

VNExpress International stated MovianAI was discussed during Hou’s meeting with the deputy Prime Minister, who reportedly pressed Qualcomm to ensure the business is a key player in advancing Vietnam’s AI expertise and chip production capabilities.

Progressive approach
The politician reportedly also emphasised the presence of incentive schemes covering AI and chip research, along with a training initiative targeting young Vietnamese.

Vietnam is attracting a growing number of international investors: in 2024, SpaceX was tipped to be eyeing a $15 billion investment and Ericsson secured a 5G RAN deal with Viettel Group.

Domestically, MobiFone recently became the latest operator to deploy a commercial 5G service.

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MovianAI was the genAI division of Vingroup company VinAI, which Qualcomm stated is well-known as being skilled in genAI, machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing.

Qualcomm believes MovianAI will help it deliver “extraordinary inventions” in the genAI sector. Along with smartphones, the US company identified PCs and software-defined vehicles among the sectors set to benefit.

Jilei Hou, SVP of engineering at Qualcomm, said the acquisition brings “high-calibre talent” on board and advances its longstanding R&D efforts.

VinAI founder and CEO Hung Bui will join Qualcomm as part of the deal.

The executive counts time with Google DeepMind among his past experience, with the US company praising his AI expertise and drive to push “the boundaries of what is possible” with customised models and engineering.

Bui said the Vietnamese company is “ready to contribute to Qualcomm’s mission of making breakthroughs in fundamental AI research and scale them across industries”.

Qualcomm explained it has a more than 20-year history of working with Vietnamese companies in areas including 5G, IoT, automotive and AI.

No financial details were revealed, though VNExpress International reported the transaction involved a 65 per cent stake.

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The theme across a raft of meetings hosted by Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao is trade wars benefit no-one and the nation would prefer to strengthen ties rather than thwart cooperation.

During a meeting with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured, left), Wang (pictured, right) said China would not be swayed from a strategy of cooperation and would seek ways to expand access to the country, address corporate concerns and assist non-domestic companies in embedding themselves into the market.

Wang told Amon domestic initiatives to promote consumer goods would be a boost for companies including Qualcomm, which is also a front runner in terms of developing semiconductor and AI technologies.

“I hope Qualcomm will seize the development opportunities of the Chinese market, continue to deepen its roots…and bring more and better products and services to consumers”, the minister said.

Amon highlighted Qualcomm’s near 30-year presence in China and pledged to up its investment in the country.

He said Qualcomm is committed to helping China and the US maintain a dialogue over future trade opportunities.

Trade talk
The Qualcomm CEO was one of six top-level executives to discuss trade matters with Chinese officials during the annual meeting of the China Development Forum.

During the event, Wang also met with Apple chief Tim Cook, the chair of BMW Group and head of US-based food multinational Cargill.

Officials also held meetings with the chair of the Saudi International Power and Water Company and the head of Singaporean investment outfit Temasek Holdings.

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The acquisition is expected to contribute to Qualcomm’s aim of providing a range of elements to the IoT segment including chips, software architecture, services, developer resources and blueprints for deployments.

Edge Impulse’s end-to-end edge AI platform already “enables over 170,000 developers to easily create, deploy, and monitor AI models on a wide array of edge devices – with support for varied microcontrollers and processors featuring AI accelerators from multiple semiconductor providers”, Qualcomm noted.

It already supports some of the chip giant’s Dragonwing processors with expansion to cover others set to follow.  

Following the acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, Qualcomm plans to retain the Edge Impulse brand and its current website.

Qualcomm group general manager, automotive, industrial and embedded IoT, and cloud computing Nakul Duggal, said the buy would strengthen its leading position in “AI and developer enablement, enhancing our ability to provide comprehensive technology for critical sectors such as retail, security, energy and utilities, supply chain management, and asset management”.

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