Qualcomm Inc, the largest maker of chips for smartphones, said it is leading the charge to be the main supplier of technology for 5G phones coming this year and announced new products aimed at winning more orders in the automotive market.
The company’s chips are to be in 30 devices with 5G connection coming to the market later this year, Qualcomm said on Monday at the annual CES show in Las Vegas.
It also announced three new chips for cars aimed at bringing digital dashboard technology to mass-market models.
Photo: Reuters
Qualcomm’s technology dominated the mobile industry during the past two generational advancements, giving it market-share leadership and huge profits.
Almost a decade after the debut of 4G services, with overall consumer interest in smartphones slowing and a worldwide legal fight with Apple Inc, which is no longer a customer, the San Diego-based chipmaker’s earnings have suffered.
Leading the rush to get the new 5G phones in the hands of consumers this year would help Qualcomm profit from the widespread adoption of the technology next year, company president Christiano Amon said.
The service uses wider sets of airwaves that are more efficient at carrying data traffic, he added.
That means phone service providers would have an incentive to get their subscribers to upgrade and would devote marketing and subsidies to make sure that happens.
That impetus would benefit companies that have already gotten their technology ready.
Qualcomm also said it would begin selling three new versions of its Snapdragon product designed to power driver displays in cars.
The idea is to let automakers vary capabilities for different car models while using the same software and other tools, which would help spread the use of advanced instrument clusters to cheaper vehicles, Amon said.
In another attempt to boost its automotive offerings, Qualcomm demonstrated technology that could deliver Amazon.com Inc’s Alexa voice-activated assistant and other Amazon services in cars.
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