Qualcomm Reportedly Eyes Data-Center Chip Tech For Smartphones And Cars — But QCOM Stock Slips

• Qualcomm is reportedly discussing its new data center chip platform with smartphone, PC and automotive manufacturers.
• The company plans to repurpose technology developed for AI servers into future mobile processors, according to Semafor.
• The first generation of the new architecture is expected to debut in data centers next year before broader commercialization in 2028.

Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) is planning to bring technology developed for its new data-center chips to smartphones, personal computers and cars as it looks to improve on-device artificial intelligence capabilities.

The company intends to use the new chip technology it created for data centers in smartphones, ultimately allowing AI to run better on mobile devices, Qualcomm’s Executive Vice President Durga Malladi told Semafor.

Shares of QCOM gained 1.6% during the trading session on Friday morning. But by afternoon, the QCOM stock had pared all the gains and was trading at a loss of 2.7% at the time of writing.

QCOM Looks Beyond The Data Center

Qualcomm this week announced its data-center chips, marking its entry into the highly competitive market for data-center processors. Malladi said the company’s ambitions extend well beyond servers. “What starts in data centers is not going to end there,” he told Semafor.

According to Malladi, Qualcomm is already in discussions with manufacturers of smartphones, personal computers and automobiles about incorporating part of its new data-center technology portfolio into future products.

At the center of Qualcomm's plans is its High Bandwidth Compute architecture, which places memory and compute closer together by stacking chips vertically instead of positioning them side by side. The design is intended to improve the speed and flow of data.

The first generation of the architecture is expected to launch in data centers in 2027, while the new chips are slated to become commercially available in 2028. Malladi did not disclose when the technology would be introduced into smartphones, PCs or vehicles.

Bringing AI Closer To The Device

While vertically stacking chips is not a new concept, the approach has largely been used in data centers rather than smartphones. When the technology eventually reaches handheld devices, it is expected to allow users to run more AI models locally and operate AI agents in an “always on” fashion without draining battery life.

Qualcomm, which lagged in data-center technology for several years, believes its decades of experience in smartphone chips position it to expand the architecture beyond servers and into consumer devices.

QCOM Stock: What Stocktwits Retail Sentiment Says

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for QCOM turned ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ in the last 24 hours, while message volume was ‘high.’ Over the past 30 days, message volume for QCOM has surged by nearly 300%, while watcher count rose by 1% in the same period.

The QCOM stock has gained nearly 14% year-to-date.

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