Qualcomm Inc., the US-based leading fabless chip maker, plans to source some of its products from India in two years as semiconductor fabrication facilities come up in the country. Cost competitiveness is vital, but then it should not come at the cost of quality and performance. “Quality and performance cannot be a casualty,” said Savi Soin, President of Qualcomm India, “but certainly, cost competitiveness is must for any product. Users simply won’t pay more.”
Qualcomm has had some strategic partnerships and collaborations in store, such as one announced with Micron, that is setting up a test and assembly facility in Sanand, Gujarat. It should begin churning out Made in India memory chips as early as next year and thereby add to its local production arsenal.
The company is pushing the core 8 processor aggressively, which brings AI-powered laptops within the reach of many,” says Soin. In fact, a host of launches by global brands such as Asus, HP, Dell, and Lenovo have already brought in AI-powered laptops running on this processor into India. As many more models line up to enter the market before December 2024, Soin stressed that, “We are displaying the 8 core, which drives affordable AI laptops priced between $700 and $900, and assures that performance and power are completely uncompromised.”.
Soin said addressing the challenges to enter this competitive laptop processor market dominated by established players, one of the key differentiators is the user experience. Qualcomm is also working on an affordability strategy in mobile devices through its 4SG2 processor launched in July this year. It is positioning to make cost-effective 5G smartphones. Soin said a year ago there were not many options for 5G phones in this segment priced between Rs 10,000 to Rs 13,000. The new chip from Qualcomm is expected to power devices in the Rs 7,000-10,000 range, thus catering to a very significant market segment. The first phone with this new chip will be released by Xiaomi, and of course, there are already huge interests from big players like Reliance Jio.
Qualcomm is further optimistic about the automotive industry and indeed engages with leading manufacturers in both the internal combustion engine and the electric vehicle markets. In fact, its activities include advanced technologies such as visual cockpits, advanced driver-assistance systems, and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.
