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Qualcomm

4 min readUpdated October 2026
Qualcomm
Type
Fabless semiconductor and telecommunications technology company
Founded
1985, San Diego, California
Founders
Seven former Linkabit colleagues, including Irwin Jacobs
Business segments
Chips (QCT) and patent licensing (QTL)
Key products
Snapdragon SoCs, Hexagon NPU, 5G modems, Snapdragon Digital Chassis
Annual revenue
Approximately US$39 billion (fiscal year 2024)
Malaysian footprint
Engineering centres in Kuala Lumpur and Penang
Qualcomm is an American fabless semiconductor and telecommunications company that designs wireless technologies and system-on-chips (SoCs) for smartphones, laptops, vehicles and connected devices, and earns significant revenue from licensing foundational cellular patents. Qualcomm designs its chips but outsources manufacturing to foundries such as TSMC.[1]

History

Qualcomm was founded in 1985 in San Diego by seven former engineers of Linkabit, meeting at co-founder Irwin Jacobs's home, with the name blending "quality" and "communications".[1] The company pioneered the commercialization of CDMA (code-division multiple access) wireless technology in the 1990s, which became a foundation of 2G and 3G cellular standards; Qualcomm's standard-essential patent portfolio from this era continues to generate licensing revenue through its Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) division.[1]

Qualcomm transitioned to a fabless model as the mobile market grew, and launched the Snapdragon brand in 2007. It acquired the chip-design firm Nuvia in 2021 for about US$1.4 billion, which produced the Oryon CPU cores used in Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors for laptops. In 2024 Qualcomm launched Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors for "Copilot+" PCs, expanding beyond mobile into personal computing. An earlier attempt to acquire NXP for about US$44 billion collapsed in 2018 after Chinese regulatory approval was not granted.[2]

Apple, Qualcomm's largest modem customer, has been developing in-house cellular modems to reduce this dependence, a transition Qualcomm has said it will offset by diversifying its modem customer base. Qualcomm reported revenue of about US$39 billion for fiscal year 2024 and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2025.[1]

Key Concepts and Technology

Qualcomm's Snapdragon SoCs integrate CPU, GPU, neural processing unit (NPU), image signal processor, modem and other components on a single chip, a design approach that enables high performance within smartphone power and thermal limits.[3] The Hexagon NPU is central to Qualcomm's on-device AI strategy: recent Snapdragon mobile and PC platforms are capable of running large language models locally, and Qualcomm's Copilot+ PC processors deliver neural performance above the 45 TOPS threshold set for Microsoft's Copilot+ PC programme.[3]

The QTL licensing business is Qualcomm's historical profit engine: manufacturers of cellular devices pay royalties underpinned by Qualcomm's patents covering CDMA, 4G/LTE and 5G standards, regardless of which company's chips are used.[1] Beyond phones, the Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform targets automotive cockpit and driver-assistance systems, with design wins announced with major automakers, while Snapdragon chips power devices including Meta's Quest virtual-reality headsets.[2]

Applications and Impact

Qualcomm Snapdragon chips are found in the majority of flagship and many mid-range Android smartphones worldwide, in a growing share of Windows laptops (including business laptops marketed in Malaysia), in automotive cockpits, in 5G fixed-wireless-access equipment used by telecom operators, and in industrial and IoT devices. Qualcomm's diversification reflects both the maturation of the smartphone market and the rise of on-device AI, which rewards low-power chip design.[3]

>See Also

🇲🇾Malaysian Context

🇲🇾 Qualcomm has long-standing engineering operations in Malaysia, with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Penang; the Penang site is among Qualcomm's significant design centres in the Asia-Pacific region and has operated since the 2000s.[2] Qualcomm's chips are pervasive in Malaysian consumer electronics — most smartphones sold in Malaysia use Snapdragon processors, and Malaysian telcos deploy Snapdragon-based modems in fixed-wireless and networking equipment.[4]

For businesses, HP Malaysia and other vendors market Snapdragon-powered laptops to Malaysian companies specifically for their battery life and on-device AI capabilities.[4] This on-device model is relevant to Malaysia's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) environment, since inference performed locally avoids sending data to external cloud services. Qualcomm's expanding global engineering hubs, announced in 2025, reinforce the role of Malaysia's existing semiconductor design talent pool, and Qualcomm skills feed into HRD Corporation training grants and MDEC digital-talent programmes supporting Malaysia's National Semiconductor Strategy.[5]

References

  1. ↑Qualcomm. Company history and business overview. https://www.qualcomm.com/company
  2. ↑Qualcomm. Global office locations, including Malaysia. https://www.qualcomm.com/company/facilities/offices
  3. ↑Qualcomm. Snapdragon platforms for PCs and on-device AI. https://www.qualcomm.com/products/mobile/snapdragon/pcs-and-tablets
  4. ↑HP Malaysia. Snapdragon-powered laptops for business. https://www.hp.com/my-en/tech-takes/laptops/buyers-guide/snapdragon-laptops-business-guide.html
  5. ↑Qualcomm. Newsroom — engineering centre expansions and corporate announcements. https://www.qualcomm.com/newsroom
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