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In the smartphone chip foundry sector, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung dominate, while Intel—despite heavy investment in its foundry ambitions—appears increasingly strained under the weight of the competition, with many clients expressing skepticism about its prospects.
Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, spoke candidly, noting that Intel’s chip production technology is not yet sufficient for Qualcomm to consider it a viable manufacturing partner, even though the company would like Intel to eventually become one of its options.
Qualcomm develops its chips by licensing designs from Arm and outsourcing manufacturing to TSMC and Samsung, with smartphone makers purchasing the finished processors from Qualcomm. This model exemplifies the classic fabless approach to semiconductor design and production.
Amon emphasized that Intel is not currently an option, but reiterated Qualcomm’s desire for Intel to become one in the future. For now, however, Qualcomm will continue to rely on TSMC and Samsung for the fabrication of its smartphone processors.
In reality, both Qualcomm and other companies face limited choices. At present, only TSMC and Samsung possess the advanced process nodes required for leading-edge chip manufacturing. Among them, TSMC’s technological superiority ensures an abundance of orders, and the company has already announced plans to raise wafer prices starting next year.
Beyond smartphones, Qualcomm is aggressively expanding into automotive semiconductors. Under Amon’s leadership, the company aims to bring its mobile technologies into new markets such as vehicles, seeking revenue growth that is not solely dependent on the smartphone industry.
In its recent earnings call, Qualcomm projected that revenue from automotive and connected devices could reach \$22 billion by 2029. These emerging business lines are expected to become powerful pillars of growth, reducing reliance on smartphone chips as the company charts its future trajectory.
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