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Indian Innovators Shine on Global Stage: Qualcomm

The leading chip-maker will host its flagship developer conference in Hyderabad on April 17, which will see more than 150 developers, engineers and industry leaders…reports Asian Lite News

The developer community in India is at the forefront of creating innovative solutions which will continue to unlock growth opportunities not only for the country but also for the world, Savi Soin, President of Qualcomm India, said on Friday.

The leading chip-maker will host its flagship developer conference in Hyderabad on April 17, which will see more than 150 developers, engineers and industry leaders discuss advancements in technologies.

“India’s growing STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) talent is at par with global standards with a lot of our professionals leading breakthrough advancements,” Soin said. “As a leader in 5G and wireless communications, we are committed to being a trusted partner for India in its digital journey.”

The company is working closely with the ecosystem to develop India-relevant artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G use cases and applications.

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“The Hyderabad centre is at the helm of driving rigorous research and development (R&D) for Qualcomm in the country and is aligned with our larger vision of ‘Make in India for the world’,” said Shashi Reddy, VP of Engineering, Qualcomm India.

Qualcomm recently announced a grant of $186,000 and front-end support for the ‘Edge AI Lab’ at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-H).

“The conference underscores our commitment towards deeper collaboration, research and innovation in partnership with Indian developers towards advancing AI and Edge AI technologies,” said Leendert van Doorn, Senior Vice President, Qualcomm.

Last month, chip-maker Qualcomm announced the inauguration of its new chip design centre in Chennai.

The centre, made with an investment of Rs. 177.27 crore, will specialise in wireless connectivity solutions, with a focus on innovations that complement Wi-Fi technologies.

It is also expected to generate jobs for up to 1,600 skilled technology professionals, open new doors for semiconductor design in alignment with the government’s vision of ‘Make in India’ and unlock growth opportunities for a strong indigenous design ecosystem.

Further, in line with the government’s Bharat 6G Vision, the company also announced its programme supporting 6G University Research in India.

At the inauguration, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw shared his vision for a digitally-empowered India.

“India’s technological prowess continues to soar, positioning us as a global leader in innovation. Our nation’s strong commitment to embracing digital progress marks our journey towards a digitally-empowered society.

“We are happy to extend our support to Qualcomm which has played a key role in accelerating India’s digital journey and together we aim to connect millions of Indians through 5G connectivity,” the minister said.

“The new design centre marks a key milestone for not just the company but also the impact it is set to bring forth with employee opportunities that will further nurture our tech talent,” he added.

The centre will also actively contribute to Qualcomm’s global Research and Development endeavours in 5G Cellular technology.

Rahul Patel, Group General Manager, Connectivity, Broadband & Networking (CBN), Qualcomm Technologies said that the new design centre “will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of connectivity globally, especially in India.”

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US Chip Giant Unveils India Strategy

The initiatives mark a crucial step forward in Qualcomm’s journey of innovation also strengthening its presence in India. This expansion entails an investment of Rs 177.27 crore…reports Asian Lite News

American semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm has opened a design centre in Chennai. The centre was inaugurated by Union Minister for Information and Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday, in the presence of the company’s President and CEO Cristiano R Amon.

The US-headquartered multinational corporation, Qualcomm, is famed for designing and manufacturing semiconductors and wireless telecommunications products.

“PM Shri @narendramodi Ji’s vision is to develop complete semiconductor ecosystem. Today one more building block – Qualcomm semiconductor design center inaugurated in Chennai. Thankyou Mr. @cristianoamon and special thanks for showing up in Indian traditional attire,” the minister posted on X.

The minister also launched its 6G University Research India Program today, at the Ramanujan IT City, Taramani, Chennai.

These initiatives mark a crucial step forward in Qualcomm’s journey of innovation also strengthening its presence in India. This expansion entails an investment of Rs 177.27 crore.

Talking about the semiconductor production in India, Vaishnaw pointed out that all the three semiconductor chips in the Qualcomm board will be designed now end to end in the newly inaugurated Chennai Design Center and thus meeting the Prime Minister’s vision of creating entire value chain of semi-conductor in India starting from design, fabrication and ATMP (Assembling, Testing, Marking and Packaging) and encompassing further all three layers of semiconductor ecosystem, i.e., talent pool, gases and chemicals and semiconductor equipment.

The Minister also said that the with foundation stone laying for three projects of semiconductor by the Prime Minister on Wednesday, the country will have capability in all fields — design, fabrication and ATMP (Modified Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging).

“We have programmed with 104 universities spread across the nation where the latest design tools are made available to the students, to learn, experiment and try out new ideas,” the Minister noted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stones for three new semiconductor plants in the country on Wednesday. In India’s endeavour to ramp up its semiconductor ecosystem, three new chip plants – two in Gujarat and one in Assam are being set up- in addition to the under-construction chip plant at Sanand in Gujarat. Tata Group is setting up two of these three new plants.

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The semiconductor industry in India is still in a nascent stage, with various local and multinational companies intending to tap its vast potential.

The Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India was notified on December 21, 2021, with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore.

Meanwhile, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) on Friday announced plans to collaborate with global giant Qualcomm Technologies Inc, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, to establish a strategic partnership that will foster innovation in India and support developers and start-ups in the country working on innovative products and use cases.

Qualcomm Technologies has signed an MoU with C-DOT to provide expertise and best practices, state-of-the-art technology, intellectual property training and tools, for enabling Indian startups, academia, and OEMs, and fast-tracking the development and commercialisation of indigenous telecom products utilising Qualcomm wireless solutions and technologies.

Through this collaboration, C-DOT and Qualcomm Technologies will work towards the following broad objectives:

Facilitate access for the startups, OEMs and academia with foundational chip technologies and domain experts that will stimulate innovation and help them scale up their R&D efforts

Accelerate the pace of commercialisation and business development of Indian startups engaged in building indigenous telecom products and solutions

Speaking on the initiative, Neeraj Mittal, Chairman, of the Digital Communications Commission and Secretary of, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said that India’s developers, academia and startup ecosystem are at the forefront of driving innovation in the country.

“With immense pride in our nation’s cutting-edge research, we stand alongside Qualcomm in nurturing the entrepreneurial vigour in telecom technology. This initiative is reaffirming the Prime Minister’s commitment to the government’s Design in India and Make in India vision, recognising the potential of homegrown startups to drive groundbreaking innovations and propel India’s leadership in the telecom landscape,” he said.

Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, of C-DOT, said “Our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies will help transition us to an era where innovation thrives, unlocking the vast potential of Indian R&D, accelerating the commercialisation of new products and use cases and fostering a vibrant ecosystem of startups.

Speaking on Qualcomm’s commitment to India, Savi Soin, Senior Vice President, and President of Qualcomm India said that India has a thriving developer and startup ecosystem driven by enormous technology talent.

“The recent initiatives by the government have been key in making India a growth conducive market for tech companies of various scales. With the government’s push for Design in India coupled with growing adoption of 5G and on the device-AI, we see greater scope for innovations,” he said.

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Qualcomm Keeps Shanghai R&D Center, Trims Staff

Qualcomm.

Qualcomm stated that it does not intend to implement significant layoffs at its Shanghai facility, which has been operational since 2010 and has approximately 393 employees….reports Asian Lite News

US chip-major Qualcomm has denied it is going to shut down its research and development facility in Shanghai, China.

The company, however, said “it does plan to downsize given uncertainties about the economy and demand,” the media reported.

Qualcomm told Chinese news service Yicai Global that it has no plans for large-scale job cuts at its Shanghai facility, which opened in 2010 and employs nearly 393 employees.

However, the company admitted “it does plan to downsize given uncertainties about the economy and demand.”

The multi-million dollar R&D centre is situated in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai.

Qualcomm also has an R&D facility in Beijing.

According to the report, “staff redundancies and other downsizing measures are mainly scheduled for the fiscal fourth quarter and will entail significant additional costs” at Qualcomm.

In August, the chip major warned of an ongoing slump in smartphone sales and likely job cuts.

In a US securities filing as it announced results for its fiscal third quarter ended June 25, the company said “while we are in the process of developing our plans, we currently expect these actions to consist largely of workforce reductions, and in connection with any such actions we would expect to incur significant additional restructuring charge”.

In the earnings call, President and CEO Cristiano Amon said that they are taking a conservative view of the market and “will be proactively taking additional cost actions to ensure Qualcomm is well positioned to deliver maximum value for stockholders in an uncertain environment”.

The company delivered revenues of $8.4 billion, a 23 per cent year-over-year drop and 52 per cent decrease in net income to $1.8 billion, mainly due to an ongoing slump in the smartphone industry.

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Qualcomm and Apple Renew Agreement for 5G Modem Supply

Qualcomm.

Apple remains Qualcomm’s largest customer, accounting for nearly a quarter of the chipmaker’s revenue…reports Asian Lite News

Chip-maker Qualcomm on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Apple to supply Snapdragon 5G Modem‑RF Systems for its iPhones in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The previous agreement between the two companies was set to expire later this year. 

The news came after reports speculating that Apple will move to its own in-house 5G modem solution by 2025.

The chip-maker said the agreement “reinforces Qualcomm’s track record of sustained leadership across 5G technologies and products”.

Apple will continue to use Qualcomm 5G modems for at least three more years now with the new agreement between the two companies.

Apple remains Qualcomm’s largest customer, accounting for nearly a quarter of the chipmaker’s revenue. 

Earlier reports mentioned that Apple may move into making in-house 5G modem chips for its 2024 iPhones.

Although Apple’s most recent iPhone 14 models use Qualcomm modems, the company has been attempting to go it solo in the wireless connectivity market for several years, reports CNBC.

Apple bought Intel’s modem business in 2019, and there had been speculation it would begin using in-house parts this year.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is currently working on its own 5G chip for future iPhones but it may not debut until 2025.

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Apple’s Modem Plans Add to Qualcomm’s Challenges

Huawei purchased 23-25 ​​million and 40-42 million mobile phone SoCs from  Qualcomm in 2022 and 2023, respectively…reports Asian Lite News

Chinese smartphone brand Huawei’s new smartphones will fully adopt the new self-developed Kirin processors starting in 2024, a move that will hurt chip-maker Qualcomm the most, according to leading analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

According to Kuo, Qualcomm will not only lose Huawei’s orders completely from 2024 onwards “but also face the risk of a decline in shipments to non-Huawei Chinese brand clients due to the competition from Huawei”.

Huawei purchased 23-25 ​​million and 40-42 million mobile phone SoCs from  Qualcomm in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

“However, it’s expected that Huawei’s new models will fully adopt the new self-developed Kirin processors starting in 2024,” said said Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, a financial services group in the Asia-Pacific region.

Qualcomm’s SoC shipments to Chinese smartphone brands in 2024 are expected to be at least 50-60 million units lower than in 2023 due to Huawei’s adoption of the new Kirin processors and will continue to decline year by year.

“My latest survey indicates that Qualcomm will likely start a price war as early as 4Q23 to maintain market share in the Chinese market, which will be detrimental to profits,” Kuo emphasised.

Two other potential risks for Qualcomm are that the market share of Exynos 2400 in Samsung mobile phones is higher than expected and Apple is expected to use its own modem chip starting in 2025.

Huawei and China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) built an advanced 7-nanometer processor to power its latest smartphones, according to a report by market analysis firm TechInsights.

It is reported that Huawei is using a homemade advanced 7nm chipset, identified as Kirin 9000s, in its Mate 60 Pro smartphone.

The company started selling its Mate 60 Pro phone last week, without much information about the chipset inside.

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Qualcomm bets big on Hybrid AI

In a white paper, the company said that hybrid processing is more important than ever…reports Asian Lite News

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots like Microsoft-backed OpenAIs ChatGPT and Google Bard take the world by storm, Hybrid AI will allow generative AI developers and providers to take advantage of the compute capabilities available in edge devices to reduce costs, chip maker Qualcomm has said.

In a white paper, the company said that hybrid processing is more important than ever.

“A hybrid AI architecture distributes and coordinates AI workloads among cloud and edge devices, rather than processing in the cloud alone,” said the chip maker.

The cloud and edge devices — smartphones, cars, personal computers, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices — work together to deliver more powerful, efficient and highly optimised AI.

“The main motivation is cost savings. For instance, generative AI-based search cost per query is estimated to increase by 10 times compared to traditional search methods — and this is just one of many generative AI applications,” Qualcomm stressed.

Hybrid AI even allows for devices and cloud to run models concurrently — with devices running light versions of the model while the cloud processes multiple tokens of the full model in parallel and corrects the device answers if needed.

AI models with more than 1 billion parameters are already running on phones with performance and accuracy levels similar to those of the cloud, and models with 10 billion parameters or more are slated to run on devices in the near future.

“The hybrid AI approach is applicable to virtually all generative AI applications and device segments — including phones, laptops, extended reality headsets, cars and IoT,” according to Qualcomm.

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Chip giant Qualcomm begins layoffs

The reports came as Qualcomm struggles to close its purchase of NXP while concurrently meeting its goal to cut costs by $1 billion…reports Asian Lite News

Global chip-maker Qualcomm has started layoffs, impacting both full-time and temporary employees, as “workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success”.

According to reports, Qualcomm may eliminate 1,500 jobs in California alone.

The reports came as Qualcomm struggles to close its purchase of NXP while concurrently meeting its goal to cut costs by $1 billion, reports Fierce Wireless.

“As part of the cost reduction plan announced in January, Qualcomm is conducting a reduction of our full-time and temporary workforce. A workforce reduction, such as this one, affects not only those employees who are part of the reduction, but their families, co-workers and the community,” the chip giant said in a statement.

The company offered affected employees supportive severance packages to reduce the impact of the transition on them.

“We first evaluated non-headcount expense reductions, but we concluded that a workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success, which will ultimately benefit all our stakeholders,” the company added.

Earlier this month, Qualcomm said that at the request of the Ministry of Commerce in China, it refiled its application to acquire NXP.

In conjunction with the refiling, NXP and Qualcomm agreed, among other things, to extend the end date of their purchase agreement from April 25, 2018 to July 25, 2018.

China is the only country that hasn’t signed off on Qualcomm’s purchase of NXP.

Qualcomm had walked away from a $44 billion deal to buy NXP Semiconductors after failing to secure Chinese regulatory approval.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Supreme Court this month finalised a ruling in favour of the national antitrust regulator’s record fine of 1 trillion won ($760.8 million) imposed in 2016 on US chipmaker Qualcomm for unfair business practices.

The fine was imposed by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), which concluded in December 2016 that the San Diego-based company and its two affiliates breached South Korea’s competition law by refusing to offer licenses to chipset manufacturers and demanding high fees for patents used by smartphone makers.

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Qualcomm’s M1 rival coming soon

The company is likely working on several chipsets, but the one that is said to give the best performance is expected to have eight performance cores…reports Asian Lite News

San Francisco, Jan 23 (IANS) Chip-maker Qualcomm is reportedly developing a new chipset that will compete against Apple’s upcoming M-series processors.

The new processor is developing under the codename ‘Hamoa’ and is expected to be marketed as “Snapdragon 8cx Gen4”, reports Gizmochina.

The 12-core SoC was earlier mentioned by tipster Kuba Wojciechowski, who now claims that the silicon’s moniker will be Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4.

The company is likely working on several chipsets, but the one that is said to give the best performance is expected to have eight performance cores.

However, it is not clear whether Qualcomm’s Oryon cores will be featured in the new processor.

The company is apparently not developing a new graphics processing unit (GPU) for the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 because it is expected to have the same Adreno 740 graphics processor as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the report said.

In November last year, during the company’s Investor Day, Qualcomm CTO Jim Thompson had announced Qualcomm’s plans to create a next-gen ARM-based SoC (system-on-a-chip) designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs, that was expected to compete against iPhone maker’s M-series processors.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the chip-maker had announced ‘Snapdragon Satellite’ — a satellite-based two-way capable messaging solution for premium smartphones at Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2023, that would take on Apple’s satellite messaging feature.

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Qualcomm sets long-term goals amid uncertainties

In the latest Qualcomm quarterly results earlier this month, Cristiano Amon, President and CEO, said that the semiconductor industry is being impacted by significant macroeconomic headwinds …reports Nishant Arora

Despite several quarters of declining smartphone sales owing to rough macroeconomic conditions, chip major Qualcomm is confident it will weather the global condition with a strong focus on long-term growth, while delivering top-of-the-line features for the overall device ecosystem.

Chris Patrick, SVP and General Manager, Mobile Handset, Qualcomm, said that despite a lot of ups and downs in the global market, the company is “really focused on the long term”.

“Smartphone is the most indispensable device in our lives and we make sure we have the right mix of products for our customers for the long term. Structurally, we don’t see anything really different in the current global scenario for our business,” Patrick said on the sidelines of the company’s flagship ‘Snapdragon Summit 2022’ here.

“We are witnessing the same demand for devices and the same kind of demand for advanced features,” he added.

Qualcomm caters to a premium set of smartphones for most of the major smartphone players globally.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide smartphone shipments declined 9.7 per cent (year-over-year) to 301.9 million units in the third quarter this year.

The drop marked the largest-ever third quarter decline and the fifth consecutive quarter of decline for the smartphone market as shipments continue to struggle amid weakened global demand and economic uncertainties, said the IDC report.

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon AR platform to power headworn devices

According to Patrick, some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are facing the problem, especially those who “hit the accelerator maybe a little bit too hard”.

“We are focusing very hard to provide optimum, next-generation features to our customers across the spectrum, be it gaming, camera, AI and the overall device performance. We’ve taken a big leap on delivering peak performance and we expect OEMs to have an easier time making a balance,” Patrick told IANS.

In the latest Qualcomm quarterly results earlier this month, Cristiano Amon, President and CEO, said that the semiconductor industry is being impacted by significant macroeconomic headwinds and other short-term challenges from which “we’re not immune.

However, “the fundamentals of Qualcomm’s growth drivers remain unchanged with significant opportunities in the coming years,” Amon mentioned.

In handsets, the company recently entered into a new multi-year agreement with Samsung, expanding the use of Snapdragon platforms for future premium Samsung Galaxy products globally.

“We also executed on the changing OEM landscape opportunity, securing key premium and high-tier design wins with our customers in China. Snapdragon has become synonymous with premium mobile experiences worldwide,” said Amon.

Meanwhile, Chip major Qualcomm has launched the world’s first purpose-built, headworn augmented reality platform for VR/AR devices of the future.

Called Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 which is part of the company’s extended reality (XR) portfolio, the multi-chip architecture achieves 50 per cent lower power consumption and 2.5x better AI performance, to enable high-performance, sleek AR glasses.

Snapdragon AR2 is in various stages of development with OEMs including Lenovo, LG, Nreal, OPPO, Pico, QONOQ, Rokid, Sharp, TCL, Vuzix and Xiaomi.

“We built Snapdragon AR2 to address the unique challenges of headworn AR and provide industry-leading processing, AI and connectivity that can fit inside a stylish form factor,” said Hugo Swart, vice president of XR product management, Qualcomm, during the ‘Snapdragon Summit 2022’ here.

With the technical and physical requirements for VR/MR and AR diverging, “Snapdragon AR2 represents another metaverse-defining platform in our XR portfolio to help our OEM partners revolutionise AR glasses,” he added.

Microsoft worked closely with Qualcomm on the platform requirements for Snapdragon AR2.

“Snapdragon AR2 platform innovations will revolutionize headworn AR devices that will transform immersive productivity and collaboration and we look forward to seeing the innovation that Qualcomm and its partners will bring to market,” said Ruben Caballero, Corporate Vice President of Mixed Reality, Devices & Technology, Microsoft.

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Qualcomm unveils innovator kit to empower developers

It offers a hardware development kit based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, software tools and support for a new community of developers…reports Asian Lite News

In a bid to empower new developers, chip major Qualcomm has announced an ‘Innovators Development Kit’ that will first be available to select universities and research institutions for on-device machine learning applications.

The company said that it will enable developers to work across various Qualcomm Technologies software solutions to minimise time-to-market and increase customisation.

“Providing new developer communities with access to our technologies will further enable innovation that accelerates the digital economy and drives the greater good,” said Ziad Asghar, vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, at the company’s flagship ‘Snapdragon Summit 2022’ here.

It offers a hardware development kit based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, software tools and support for a new community of developers.

This Qualcomm Innovators Development Kit will later expand to additional developer segments, such as security, multimedia, embedded systems computing and more.

“Improving time-to-market for developers by minimising the time from intent to prototype will allow these communities to leverage our aOne Technology Roadmap’ for their product needs,” said Qualcomm.

Several leading research institutions in the US, including Duke, MIT, and University of California San Diego, are sampling the Qualcomm Innovators Development Kit in the coming months.

Through the availability of tools and resources, including the Qualcomm AI Stack, the developer kit allows developers to conduct on-device AI research in order to create cutting-edge AI applications, allowing for even more flexibility with end solutions, said the company.

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