Semiconductors are materials that conduct electricity and are found in many different electronic products. They are an important part of the telecommunications industry—a sector that allows for communication through phones, tablets, and the internet. Companies in this space are responsible for designing, manufacturing, and supplying other companies with software, technology, and infrastructure to make this all possible.
One of these companies is Qualcomm, a multinational corporation. Read on to find out more about Qualcomm including its main business units, financials, and its main competitors.
Key Takeaways
- Qualcomm is a multinational corporation known for designing and manufacturing semiconductors and wireless telecommunications products.
- Qualcomm has three main business units—QualcommCDMA Technologies (QCT), Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL), and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI).
- The company competes with Huawei, HTC, Nokia, and Samsung in mobile phone technology and MediaTek and Samsung in the semiconductormarket.
- Qualcomm's main competitors in its strategic investment segment include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Google, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and Nokia.
Qualcomm: An Overview
Qualcomm (QCOM) is known for designing and manufacturing wireless telecommunications products. The company was founded in 1985 by seven people. Headquartered in San Diego, it has approximately 45,000 employees in 170 offices in more than 30 different countries.
The company is headed by Cristiano Amon—the company's chief executive officer (CEO) since 2021. He also serves on the company's board of directors. Before assuming the role of CEO, Amon served as the company's president and oversaw Qualcomm's 5G initiatives.
Qualcomm came in the 107th spot on Fortune's list of top 500 companies in 2022—seventeen spots higher from the previous year. The company falls between Dollar General and Capital One Financial.
The company reported revenue of $33.6 billion at the end of the 2021 fiscal year with non-GAAP earning per share (EPS) of $8.54.
Business Segments
Qualcomm competes inthree main revenue segments:
- QualcommCDMA Technologies (QCT) which sells the company's products and services
- Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) which is the company's patent licensing side of the business
- Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI)—the side of the company that makes strategic investments
Qualcomm has one other revenue segment—referred to as its other segment. This division consists of the odds and ends that don't fit neatly into its other business units.
Competitors: Products & Services
Qualcomm's QCT business segment designs and provides software and other technologies that are used in smartphones and other devices including tablets, gaming devices, laptops, routers, data cards as well as consumer electronics and vehicle entertainment systems.
This segment competes directly with major names including Apple, Huawei, HTC, Nokia, and Samsung in mobile phone technology. It also competes with the likes of MediaTek and Samsung in the semiconductor market. Since Qualcomm is involved in making chipsets for electronic devices and peripherals, it is also directly competing against AMD, Intel, and Nvidia.
Competitors: Strategic Investments
Through its QSI segment, Qualcomm invests in a series of early-stage companies in a range of different industries including—but not limited to automotive, internet of things (IoT), mobile, data center, and healthcare.
Qualcomm competes fiercely with traditional personal computer and hardware designers and manufacturers such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell. The company also faces competition from internet conglomerates likeGoogle. Other important competitors in this space include Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and Nokia.
Who Is the Largest Holder of QCOM Shares?
The largest owner of QCOM shares, as of Q2 0222, is The Vanguard Group, with more than 105.5 million shares (or nearly 9.5% of the company), worth more than $15.5 billion, allocated across its various mutual funds and ETFs.
Who Is Qualcomm's Biggest Competitor?
Broadcom is probably the biggest direct competitor of Qualcomm. Others include AMD, Nvidia, and Intel.
Is Qualcomm an American Company?
Yes, Qualcomm is headquartered in San Diego, California and incorporated in Delaware. Its shares (under the ticker QCOM) trade on U.S. stock exchanges.
FAQs
The main competitors of QUALCOMM include Motorola Solutions (MSI), T-Mobile US (TMUS), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Intuit (INTU), Applied Materials (AMAT), International Business Machines (IBM), Verizon Communications (VZ), Adobe (ADBE), Intel (INTC), and ServiceNow (NOW).
Who are QUALCOMM's biggest competitors? ›
The company competes with Huawei, HTC, Nokia, and Samsung in mobile phone technology and MediaTek and Samsung in the semiconductor market. Qualcomm's main competitors in its strategic investment segment include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Google, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and Nokia.
Who are the competitors of QUALCOMM technologies? ›
Top Competitors and Alternatives of Qualcomm
- Intel Corporation. ...
- Broadcom Inc. ...
- MediaTek Inc. ...
- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. ...
- NVIDIA Corporation. ...
- Texas Instruments Incorporated. ...
- Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
Qualcomm's competitive advantage lies in its ability to design, develop, and market wireless telecommunications equipment and services, as well as its revenue from chip making and patent licensing businesses.
Is QUALCOMM an industry leader? ›
Qualcomm Investor Relations
As our technology continuously grows and evolves, we expect to maintain our position as a market leader; especially within the next generation of wireless technology, known as 5G.
Is Qualcomm bigger than Samsung? ›
Qualcomm's brand is ranked #202 in the list of Global Top 1000 Brands, as rated by customers of Qualcomm. Their current market cap is $156.84B. Samsung's brand is ranked #103 in the list of Global Top 1000 Brands, as rated by customers of Samsung.
Is Qualcomm bigger than Nvidia? ›
The funny thing is, as recently as 2019 industry peer Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) was worth more than its rival. QCOM stock had a $93 billion market capitalization compared to $86 billion for Nvidia.
Is Qualcomm bigger than Intel? ›
Intel Corporation's brand is ranked #110 in the list of Global Top 1000 Brands, as rated by customers of Intel Corporation. Their current market cap is $256.01B. Qualcomm's brand is ranked #202 in the list of Global Top 1000 Brands, as rated by customers of Qualcomm. Their current market cap is $156.84B.
What is the main product of Qualcomm? ›
Qualcomm Incorporated (/ˈkwɒlkɒm/) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology.
Who owns most of Qualcomm stock? ›
Largest shareholders include Vanguard Group Inc, BlackRock Inc., State Street Corp, VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares, VFINX - Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares, Price T Rowe Associates Inc /md/, Geode Capital Management, Llc, Morgan Stanley, Invesco Qqq Trust, Series 1, and ...
Smartphone demand will likely continue to decline
If any analyst glanced at Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which accounts for nearly a quarter of Qualcomm's revenue and is its largest customer, these trends would have been apparent.
Who are the major customers of Qualcomm? ›
QCOM's vs. Customers, Data
| COMPANY NAME | MARKET CAP | INCOME |
|---|
| General Motors Company | 60,556.43 | 9,840.00 |
| Motorola Solutions inc | 60,663.48 | 1,714.00 |
| Paccar Inc | 64,196.91 | 3,653.10 |
| Walt Disney Co | 217,264.00 | 4,180.00 |
52 more rowsThat historic rally -- which was driven by soaring sales of data center GPUs for processing artificial intelligence (AI) tasks -- left Nvidia's semiconductor rivals in the dust. One of those rivals was Qualcomm (QCOM 1.68%), which was more valuable than Nvidia nearly five years ago.
Who is Qualcomm owned by? ›
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. QUALCOMM is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc., with ownership of 9.9%.
What car companies use Qualcomm? ›
To date, customers for the Qualcomm Digital Chassis include Sony Honda Mobility, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Cadillac, and Stellantis.
Which country owns Qualcomm? ›
Qualcomm is a public multinational company engaged in the production of telecommunications equipment and semiconductors. Incorporated in Delaware, the company began operations in 1985. Its headquarters are in San Diego, California, United States.
Is Qualcomm a competitor of AMD? ›
AMD's competitors. AMD's competitors and similar companies include STMicroelectronics Italia, Qualcomm, Synopsys, Intel and NVIDIA.
What is the world's largest technology services company? ›
IBM | One of the top IT companies in the world. IBM, which stands for International Business Machines, is the world's largest IT services company, with over 300 offices and 345,000 employees working in over 177 countries.
