Qualcomm has announced it is in advanced talks with a major player in the hyperscale sector to introduce its own silicon for datacenter use. CEO Cristiano Amon highlighted the demand from cloud service providers for efficiently focused inferencing clusters as the driving force behind the company’s strategic shift towards custom ARM CPUs and accelerator technologies.

Amon outlined Qualcomm’s ambition to capture the datacenter market by developing a general-purpose CPU, underscored by the capabilities of its existing CPU and NPU processors. This move aims to leverage Qualcomm’s acquisition of Alphawave Semi to broaden its tech portfolio. The company’s revenue prospects are further buoyed by the anticipated integration of ARM compatible CPUs within leading hyperscale infrastructures.

Meanwhile, amidst this expansion into datacenters, Qualcomm faces a competitive challenge in the smartphone sector, as Samsung shifts strategies to enhance its Exynos SoC for premium devices. The Korean tech giant couples this with an advanced 2nm process rollout, signaling a potential departure from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon alliances.

Despite these challenges, Qualcomm’s Q3 financials showcased growth across various segments, particularly in Internet of Things and automotive technology, providing a solid foundation for future datacenter endeavors. With a focused vision, Qualcomm is poised to solidify its presence within both datacenter and consumer electronics landscapes.