Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said the company is building a comprehensive AI data-center solution following its acquisition of Modular [1].
This strategic pivot marks a significant effort by the chipmaker to diversify its revenue streams. By moving into the data-center infrastructure market, Qualcomm aims to reduce its historical reliance on the smartphone sector and compete in the high-growth AI server market.
Speaking from CNBC’s "Closing Bell" studio in New York, Amon said the company's roadmap is to create a full-stack solution for new business lines [1]. The company has set a revenue target of more than $15 billion for its data-center business by fiscal 2029 [2]. Amon said the company expects multiple inflection points within the next three to five years [2].
"We are building a comprehensive solution for data centers," Amon said [1].
As part of this expansion, Qualcomm has secured a pivotal multi-year agreement with Meta [3]. This partnership focuses on producing AI chips for Meta's data centers to support large-scale personal experiences [3]. Mark Zuckerberg said the new chips would help create the infrastructure needed to deliver those experiences at scale [1].
Market reaction to the strategy and the Meta deal was immediate. Qualcomm stock jumped 15 percent following the news [4]. The acquisition of Modular is central to this plan, providing the software, and architectural tools necessary to integrate hardware with complex AI workloads across the data center [1].
“We are building a comprehensive solution for data centers.”
Qualcomm is attempting to transition from a mobile-first company to a diversified AI infrastructure provider. By combining the Modular acquisition with a strategic partnership with Meta, the company is positioning itself to challenge established incumbents in the AI chip market. Success depends on whether its full-stack approach can effectively scale to meet the massive compute demands of generative AI in the cloud.
