Qualcomm is betting big on data centers as smartphone sales sink
With smartphone sales tanking by around 20 percent compared to 2025, Qualcomm is looking to data centers to help boost its bottom line. During its Q4 2026 earnings call, the company laid out its plans to make a splash in the AI data center business, through partnerships with companies like Amazon and Meta announced earlier […]
Qualcomm is placing substantial hopes on data center chips as smartphone sales decline. The company anticipates data center chips could make up 30% of its business. Smartphone sales have plummeted by roughly 20% compared to 2025. At its Q4 2026 earnings call, Qualcomm unveiled plans to enter the AI data center market through collaborations with firms like Amazon and Meta.
The firm forecasts a substantial increase in data center revenue, projecting $650 million in the first quarter of 2027, rising to $5 billion by the end of 2027, and $15 billion by 2029. With total revenue for 2026 at $10.4 billion, data centers would represent a significant share of earnings, though this is still short of AMD's projected 80% data center revenue.
While this is not as ambitious as AMD's goal, it indicates a robust demand that needs to be met and sufficient AI investment.
Written by urgent.news from The Verge's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Qualcomm’s smartphone chip sales miss estimates, shares fall businesstimes.com.sg
- Qualcomm shares slide as smartphone weakness clouds growth push investing.com
- Qualcomm's smartphone chip sales miss estimates, shares fall channelnewsasia.com
