Qualcomm: Using AI to change the world

[Communication Industry Network News] Communication enterprises are the main entities in the communication industry market and are key carriers of the deep integration of communication technology innovation and industry development. Their strategic layout, technological breakthroughs, and market performance directly reflect the actual industry development and evolution trends. The Communication Industry Daily, relying on long-term accumulated industry research and full-chain monitoring capabilities, systematically reviews and deeply analyzes the industry development trend for 2025 through the “Communication Industry Annual Development Report 2025,” forming the “2025 Communication Industry Panorama Map.” The industry report selects 20 representative companies with technological benchmarks and ecological influence as observation samples, analyzing them from six dimensions: performance fundamentals, technological innovation, market competitiveness, supply chain collaboration, internationalization process, and public opinion and social evaluation, and providing an annual development radar chart. This issue releases the industry benchmark company being monitored — Qualcomm.

Company Name: Qualcomm

Field: Chips

Annual Keywords: AI Computing Center, Industrial Terminals

Annual Competitiveness: ★★★★☆

2025 marks Qualcomm’s 40th anniversary since its founding and the 31st anniversary of its entry into the Chinese market. Since its establishment in 1985, Qualcomm has driven the evolution of global communication and computing technologies through continuous technological innovation, gradually transforming from a cellular communication technology pioneer into a builder of the smart terminal ecosystem.

In 2025, Qualcomm continued to empower smartphones, automobiles, and the Internet of Things (IoT) with its Snapdragon platform, accelerating its extension into AI and cloud computing. Through ongoing breakthroughs in RF front-end, energy efficiency optimization, and AI chip architecture, it further solidified its global leadership position.

According to the annual report, in fiscal year 2025, Qualcomm achieved revenue of $44.284 billion, a 14% increase year-over-year; EBT reached $12.663 billion, up 23%. Among these, the smart terminal chip division generated 27.793 billion yuan in revenue, a 12% increase; the automotive chip division reached 3.957 billion yuan, up 36%; and the IoT chip division earned 6.617 billion yuan, up 22%. While consolidating its leading position in the smart terminal market, Qualcomm’s rapid expansion into automotive and IoT sectors and its diversified strategic layout have shown remarkable results.

In 2025, Qualcomm launched the fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Snapdragon 8 flagship mobile platforms for the smart terminal market, further expanding into the high-end smartphone market. With outstanding AI computing power and energy efficiency, these platforms have been widely adopted by OEM manufacturers. Additionally, Qualcomm has extensively diversified its market presence, upgrading its platforms for personal PCs with Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite, and releasing next-generation AI inference optimization solutions AI200 and AI250 for data centers. It also launched the Qualcomm Qulab IQ-X series for next-generation industrial PCs, continuing to deepen its focus on personal and enterprise AI computing and edge intelligence scenarios.

In 2025, Qualcomm’s rapid expansion into automotive and IoT sectors, alongside its strategic diversification, has achieved significant results.

Since entering the Chinese market in 1994, Qualcomm has always regarded China as a key pillar of its global strategy, continuously increasing local investment. From the 3G era to the deep collaboration in 4G and 5G, Qualcomm has worked with Chinese partners to promote the evolution of mobile communication technology. In the new stage of AI and connectivity integration, Qualcomm has partnered with Chinese companies in terminals, automotive, and IoT fields to accelerate the deployment of its dual-brand technologies “Snapdragon” and “Qualab.” Whether improving energy efficiency in smartphones, building digital chassis for smart vehicles, or enabling low-latency connections in industrial IoT, Qualcomm supports China’s diverse market needs through underlying technological innovation, consistently fulfilling its long-term commitment to “root in China and achieve innovation.”

In the past, Qualcomm connected everyone through mobile technology, making phones more than just communication devices—they became computers. Breaking beyond mobile boundaries, Qualcomm has moved toward more intelligent terminals. Standing at the 40th anniversary milestone, Qualcomm is expanding its technological vision into broader fields. It aims to reshape human-terminal interaction with AI, enabling terminals to run large language models (LLMs) locally or access cloud-based advanced reasoning, maximizing AI assistant responses. It also promotes the deep integration of AI and 5G, building a new ecosystem of edge intelligence and cloud collaboration, continuously changing the world with cutting-edge technology.