qualcomm

According to a report by Reuters cited by Phoenix Technology, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon informed employees in an internal memo that the company will initiate performance-focused global layoffs following the annual employee evaluations, with notifications set to begin in November. The memo reviewed by Reuters was sent out on Monday, and Amon stated that this move aims to establish a stronger performance culture and address the company's ongoing failure to meet expectations.The memo did not disclose the number of layoffs, and Reuters is currently unable to determine the scale. Amon mentioned that the layoffs will take into account business priorities, organizational needs, skills, and expertise; as the business expands, the required capabilities and skills are also changing, and it is essential to have the right people in the right positions. Qualcomm has not yet responded to Reuters' request for comment. As of September 2025, Qualcomm has approximately 52,000 employees worldwide, most of whom are full-time, with the fiscal year typically ending in late September.As one of the world's largest smartphone chip manufacturers, Qualcomm has been impacted this year by sluggish sales of consumer electronics, and soaring memory chip prices have suppressed demand in key markets. Since the beginning of the year, Qualcomm's stock price has increased by about 1.5%, while the S&P 500 index has risen by over 12% during the same period, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has seen an increase of nearly 60%. On Tuesday, Qualcomm's stock price fell by about 1% in pre-market trading. In the most recent earnings report released in late July, Qualcomm projected that quarterly profits would fall below market expectations and indicated that revenue from Apple products would decline faster than previously anticipated, while stating that by fiscal year 2027, growth in data centers and other non-mobile businesses would be sufficient to offset the aforementioned losses and provide additional growth.

According to a report by Seoul Economy on the 16th, Samsung Electronics is experiencing performance degradation due to overheating in Qualcomm's next-generation application processor intended for the high-end model Galaxy S27 Ultra, which is set to be released early next year. The MX division of Samsung's DX department is conducting final performance validation on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme 6th generation that will be equipped in this model and has requested Qualcomm to resolve the overheating issue by mid-month.Several related individuals stated that the chip repeatedly exceeded temperature benchmarks during recent internal testing, leading to a decrease in processing speed under sustained high load. Samsung informed Qualcomm of the results last month, and as of the report, the overheating stability required by Samsung has not yet been achieved, with both parties still working to enhance performance and revalidate. This chip is Qualcomm's highest-end mobile application processor publicly announced last month, focusing on handling complex AI tasks on the device side and improving the performance of the CPU, GPU, and more.Mass production of the Galaxy S27 series is scheduled for the end of this year, and Samsung plans to confirm the results of the overheating improvements and finalize the application processor selection by mid-month. If the standards are met, Snapdragon will be used as originally planned; if not resolved, the Exynos 2700, designed by Samsung's System LSI and utilizing the second-generation 2-nanometer process SF2P from its foundry division, may be considered as an alternative. Since the global use of Qualcomm application processors began with the Galaxy S23 Ultra in 2023, if the Exynos 2700 is adopted in next year's Ultra, it will mark a return to the highest-end model after about five years since 2022. Industry insiders indicate that Qualcomm's application processor has not been completely ruled out.

On October 13, chip company Qualcomm announced in San Diego that a jury found Arm in violation of the long-standing architecture license agreement (ALA) with Qualcomm, failing to fulfill related commitments and deliberately disrupting Qualcomm's business.Qualcomm stated that, combined with the previous court victory, this outcome further indicates Arm's intention to harm Qualcomm and its ecosystem. Qualcomm called this result a victory for innovation and competition and will continue to develop and deliver semiconductor products, including the Oryon CPU.

According to the Business Times citing supply chain sources, Intel has raised the prices of multi-generational PC processors since September, with the high-end Panther Lake seeing an increase of 15% to 20%. Qualcomm raised the prices of multi-chip platforms by about 10% on October 1, and AMD is reported to follow suit, with the increase, scope, and effective date still to be confirmed.The report states that Intel has raised prices three times since the end of last year. Starting from September 1, prices were adjusted differentially by product line, with the highest increase for high-end Panther Lake products, focusing on those equipped with high-end GPU tiles, rather than a simultaneous increase across the entire series; Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake saw increases of about 5% to 10%. Panther Lake adopts heterogeneous integration, with the CPU Compute tile produced by Intel 18A, and the high-end GPU tile outsourced to TSMC N3E. The largest increase this time is for high-end GPUs using TSMC's advanced process.The supply chain indicates that Qualcomm's Snapdragon X and X2 Elite platforms will increase by about 10% starting in October. AMD's Ryzen and EPYC heavily rely on TSMC's advanced processes, with the next generation of EPYC pushing towards 2 nanometers. Industry insiders say that process upgrades, product high-endization, and AI computing power demands are simultaneously driving up CPU prices, with AI, mobile, and high-end computing competing for TSMC's 3-nanometer capacity, while 2-nanometer is entering the ramp-up phase for mass production.

Huawei announced that Huawei and Qualcomm have reached a multi-year, broad patent licensing agreement, which includes cross-licensing of patent portfolios in multiple fields such as 5G, computing, artificial intelligence, and networking, as well as Qualcomm's acquisition of some of Huawei's U.S. patents.The transaction will be completed upon obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. The agreement reflects the two companies' shared commitment to intellectual property protection and adherence to licensing practices that are fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory.

Qualcomm (QCOM.O) announced the renewal of its global patent licensing agreement with Apple (AAPL.O).

According to Gate market data, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose by 4%. Nvidia increased by 2.3%, Qualcomm rose by 8%, ASML went up by 2.05%, and Intel surged by 11.9%.

Recently, the market has reported that Apple is developing an enterprise-level AI server, possibly equipped with 2 to 4 unreleased M8 Ultra processors. The target customers include AI developers, large enterprises, and government agencies, primarily for AI inference. This edge data center may utilize NVLink. Both Apple and NVIDIA have not responded.The supply chain believes that Apple has entered this related business because the Mac series is widely used as personal AI workstations, with Mac revenue growing nearly 30% in the last quarter. Apple is purchasing a large number of NVIDIA chips and Google TPUs for its own AI data center and is rumored to be collaborating with Broadcom to develop its own AI chips. Qualcomm's Dragonfly product line includes a complete cabinet solution for edge AI inference.There are reports that Xiaomi is laying out an edge AI cabinet route, having previously announced a personalized AI workstation concept product called AI Cube, which internally features three self-developed chips: Xuan Ring O3, O100, and D100. The supply chain has also indicated that TSMC plays a key role in advanced processes or advanced packaging.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Qualcomm are jointly developing organic bridge technology for 2.1D packaging, with related development and validation ongoing for over a year. The organic bridge is similar to the silicon bridge used in Intel's EMIB but is made with organic materials and produced using substrate processes to connect multiple semiconductor chips within the same package.Samsung Electro-Mechanics embeds the organic bridge in FC-BGA substrates with grooves, connecting Qualcomm chips and evaluating performance and reliability. Qualcomm is considering using it for large multi-chip semiconductors in data centers and applied for related patents in October 2024. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is also developing this technology in parallel with several other customers.The organic bridge aims for 5 to 7 layers of redistribution layers, with line widths and spacings of 1.5 to 2 microns, and vias of 4 to 5 microns, achieving a pattern density of 500 to 1000 per millimeter between chips. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is self-manufacturing and evaluating samples while also assessing external suppliers and collaborating with Samsung Electronics' wafer foundry for packaging evaluations.

According to The Bell, Samsung Electronics' foundry division has delayed its contract for application processor foundry production with Qualcomm due to differences in production unit prices, and both parties have failed to narrow the price gap, prolonging negotiations. There have been no significant technical issues, and the currently discussed 2-nanometer process has received a considerable degree of stabilization evaluation.Industry sources indicate that the Qualcomm AP foundry using Samsung's 2-nanometer process may be postponed until next year, and it is unclear whether production can commence within this year. Qualcomm had previously entrusted advanced AP production to Samsung before 2021, and Samsung has been continuously striving to regain this business in recent years, having secured clients such as Tesla and Broadcom.Informed sources state that the contract delay has made it difficult for Samsung to produce APs for Qualcomm this year, and both parties may turn to discuss the next generation of products. After acquiring strategic clients, Samsung is no longer willing to accept low-price orders as it did in the past.

Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Intel with a neutral rating and a target price of $110; gave Qualcomm a neutral rating with a target price of $190; and assigned an overweight rating to NVIDIA with a target price of $300.

The world's largest smartphone processor manufacturer Qualcomm announced that it has signed an agreement with Amazon to develop the latter as a data center chip customer. This collaboration will span "multiple generations" of products, and both parties will develop custom silicon chips to support Amazon Web Services (AWS) artificial intelligence infrastructure.According to the agreement, Amazon has the right to acquire up to $4 billion in Qualcomm shares. The two sides will also collaborate on developing chips for running AI services, as well as chips for connecting computer components.

According to Gate market data, U.S. stocks opened with the Dow Jones down 0.7%, the S&P 500 index down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq up 0.08%.Qualcomm (QCOM.O) rose 5% after reaching a multi-generational product collaboration agreement with Amazon (AMZN.O). Intel (INTC.O) rose 6%, with reports that its CPUs will increase in price by another 10%. ASML (ASML.O) rose 3.8%, and TSMC (TSM.N) rose 2.4%, as both parties initiated a collaboration on high numerical aperture EUV photomasks.

According to Gate market data, Qualcomm surged over 7% in pre-market trading, as it is reported that it has reached a multi-generational product collaboration agreement with Amazon.

Supply chain sources revealed that due to the overall cost surge, Intel's PC CPUs have been gradually increasing in price over the past year, with a tentative additional increase of 10% expected in early October.In the context of a slight decline projected for the PC terminal market in 2027, Intel still chooses to raise CPU prices. Supply chain analysis indicates that if Intel sets low profit margins as an important threshold for product retention, some products will inevitably be forced to exit the market. Once this demand is released, it may provide opportunities for Arm-based operators like MediaTek and Qualcomm to enter, especially in the IPC, edge computing, and IoT markets, where Arm SoCs have advantages in high integration and low power consumption.

Qualcomm announced a double-digit increase in chip prices starting September 1, applicable to chips shipped after that date. Qualcomm informed customers in July that it could no longer absorb rising supplier costs. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon stated in an interview with Reuters that they are simply passing on the significant cost increases they are facing.Apple continues to procure modem chips from Qualcomm for the iPhone 17 models while transitioning to self-developed modems. Qualcomm expects revenue from Apple to decline faster than previously anticipated, dropping about 50% from the September quarter to the December quarter, as supply constraints will reduce Qualcomm's component share in the iPhone 18 series. Qualcomm also provides mobile chips for manufacturers like Samsung, with price increases covering its product line and negotiating separately with customers.

Qualcomm released its Q3 2026 fiscal year financial report, with revenue of $9.95 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 4%, slightly higher than the market expectation of $9.67 billion; adjusted earnings per share were $2.21, basically in line with expectations; net profit was $2 billion. The chip business (QCT) revenue was $8.5 billion, of which mobile-related business was $5.1 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 20%; automotive electronics business revenue reached a record $1.59 billion, a year-on-year increase of 61%, achieving double-digit year-on-year growth for 23 consecutive quarters; Internet of Things business revenue was $1.83 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9%.Qualcomm expects adjusted earnings per share for Q4 to be between $2.05 and $2.25, below analysts' expectations of $2.36. CEO Cristiano Amon stated that revenue from Apple will enter a phase of accelerated decline, and due to supply chain constraints, Qualcomm's component share in the next-generation iPhone is "far below the previously estimated 20%." To cope with the contraction of its Apple business, Qualcomm is accelerating its diversification transformation, expecting its data center business to achieve approximately $5 billion in revenue by fiscal year 2027, and has completed the acquisition of AI software company Modular. Qualcomm plans to adjust prices for some products starting September 1 to address rising costs across the entire supply chain.

According to Jinshi reports, Meta, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and ARM will announce their Q2 2026 financial reports after the US stock market closes.

According to Jinshi, U.S. stock AI chip stocks showed mixed results before the market opened, with Qualcomm rising 13%, Intel up nearly 6%, AMD up nearly 4%, while Baidu fell 2% and Google dropped 1.4%.

According to Jinshi reports, Qualcomm's stock rose over 14% after hours, and Qualcomm's CFO stated that the goal is to achieve $5 billion in revenue from AI data center business by fiscal year 2027.