Qualcomm goes all-in on IoT

With smartphone sales flattening and a recent acquisition falling through, the chip-maker needs to succeed in other markets

Qualcomm is committing to the IoT in a big way, announcing that it expects double-digit growth this year and that revenues will top $1 billion. That is about a fifth of the firm's non-mobile turnover.

Qualcomm derives most of its revenue from mobile chips for tablets, smartphones and other portable devices like wearables.

Cristiano Amon, president of Qualcomm Incorporated, said, "We are committed to providing innovative technologies to help expand the IoT ecosystem. We are looking to make it easier for companies of all sizes to succeed in designing and commercialising innovative IoT solutions and to participate in this huge opportunity."

Amon added that Qualcomm's IoT growth was "driven by our ability to reuse our investments and R&D in mobile technology."

In the industrial IoT space, Qualcomm says that adoption of its modems and SoCs has doubled its revenue from two years ago. The company expects its addressable opportunity in this market to grow at a 20 per cent CAGR over ‘the next few years', and for its revenues to grow at an even faster rate.

Vendors are also using Qualcomm's devices in smart home, camera, voice and music products, as well as more than 200 wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers.

These wins are important for the company as smartphone sales have been flattening in recent years. Qualcomm attempted to diversify its portfolio further with the acquisition of automotive chip-maker NXP, at a time when it was also under the threat of a buyout. However, the deal fell apart when Chinese regulators failed to approve it.

Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf is now under pressure from investors to show that he can grow sales without the NXP deal.