Qualcomm is a fabless company that outsources manufacturing to external suppliers, with the Snapdragon integrated circuit for smartphones as its core product. In recent years, it has been expanding its business into on-device AI, automotive and IoT.
Qualcomm provides integrated circuit products and system software for mobile devices. Centered on its core Snapdragon product line, it is a fabless company that does not own manufacturing plants and outsources production to external foundries. Intellectual property, including standard-essential patents related to communications standards, and licensing revenue have been major pillars of its business.
The company is pursuing diversification to reduce its dependence on the smartphone market. It is strengthening on-device AI, which emphasizes processing on the device, and is developing solutions including digital cockpits, autonomous driving platforms and IoT applications.
In October 2025, it was reportedly said to have announced an inference AI chip for data centers. Going forward, it is reportedly considering plans to increase the weighting of automotive and AI-related solutions in its business.