QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM): Business Model Canvas

In der dynamischen Welt der drahtlosen Technologie gilt QUALCOMM Incorporated als technologisches Kraftpaket, das durch sein innovatives Geschäftsmodell die globale Kommunikation verändert. Durch die strategische Nutzung modernster Halbleitertechnologien, umfangreicher Patentportfolios und robuster Partnerschaften mit Branchenriesen wie Apple und Samsung hat sich QUALCOMM als entscheidender Architekt moderner mobiler Konnektivität positioniert. Dieses Geschäftsmodell-Canvas zeigt, wie das Unternehmen Wert generiert, indem es fortschrittliche Forschung, strategische Kooperationen und bahnbrechende drahtlose Lösungen verbindet, die das digitale Ökosystem antreiben, auf das wir täglich angewiesen sind.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Wichtige Partnerschaften

Strategische Kooperationen mit Smartphone-Herstellern

Qualcomm unterhält wichtige Partnerschaften mit führenden Smartphone-Herstellern:

Hersteller	Einzelheiten zur Partnerschaft	Geschätzte Chipversorgung (2023)
Samsung	Lizenzierung des Snapdragon-Prozessors	187 Millionen Einheiten
Apfel	Lizenzierung der Modemtechnologie	Begrenzte kundenspezifische Vereinbarungen
Xiaomi	Umfassende Chipsatzversorgung	214 Millionen Einheiten

Partnerschaften in der Halbleiterfertigung

Qualcomm arbeitet mit fortschrittlichen Halbleiterherstellern zusammen:

• TSMC: 5-nm- und 3-nm-Chipherstellung
• GlobalFoundries: HF- und analoge Halbleiterproduktion
• Samsung Foundry: Alternative Produktionskapazität

Halbleiterpartner	Herstellungsprozess	Jährliche Produktionskapazität
TSMC	Fortschrittlicher 3-nm-Prozess	100.000 Wafer pro Monat
GlobalFoundries	14-nm-RF-Technologie	60.000 Waffeln pro Monat

Forschungs- und Entwicklungsallianzen

Qualcomm unterhält strategische F&E-Partnerschaften mit akademischen Institutionen:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• Stanford-Universität
• Universität von Kalifornien, Berkeley

Lizenzvereinbarungen für Telekommunikation

Umfangreiches Lizenznetzwerk zwischen Herstellern von Telekommunikationsgeräten:

Gerätehersteller	Lizenztyp	Geschätzte jährliche Lizenzeinnahmen
Ericsson	5G-Technologie	1,2 Milliarden US-Dollar
Nokia	Drahtlose Patentlizenzierung	980 Millionen Dollar

Joint Ventures in Schwellenländern

Strategische Markterweiterung durch gezielte Partnerschaften:

Land	Joint-Venture-Partner	Investitionsgröße
China	Xiaomi	300 Millionen Dollar
Indien	Vertrauen Jio	250 Millionen Dollar

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Hauptaktivitäten

Design und Entwicklung drahtloser Telekommunikationstechnologien

Jährliche F&E-Investitionen: 5,7 Milliarden US-Dollar im Geschäftsjahr 2023

Technologiebereich	Investitionsprozentsatz
5G-Technologie	37%
Drahtloser Halbleiter	28%
Erweiterte Konnektivität	22%
KI und maschinelles Lernen	13%

Herstellung und Innovation von Halbleiterchips

Gesamter Halbleiterumsatz: 44,2 Milliarden US-Dollar im Jahr 2023

• Hauptstandorte für die Chipherstellung: San Diego, Kalifornien und Taiwan
• Jährliche Chip-Produktionskapazität: Ungefähr 1,2 Milliarden Einheiten
• Marktanteil bei mobilen Chipsätzen: 48 % weltweit

Patentlizenzierung und Verwaltung geistigen Eigentums

Patentkategorie	Gesamtzahl der Patente
Drahtlose Kommunikation	140,000+
5G-Technologien	26,000+
Aktive Patentfamilien	8,500+

Forschung in 5G und fortschrittlichen mobilen Kommunikationstechnologien

5G-Forschungsinvestitionen: 1,9 Milliarden US-Dollar im Jahr 2023

• Anzahl der 5G-Patente: 26.000+
• Globale 5G-wesentliche Patentanmeldungen: 22,4 %

Entwicklung drahtloser Netzwerklösungen und -plattformen

Umsatz mit drahtlosen Plattformen: 12,3 Milliarden US-Dollar im Geschäftsjahr 2023

Plattformtyp	Marktdurchdringung
Snapdragon-Plattformen	62 % Smartphone-Markt
IoT-Konnektivitätslösungen	35 % Weltmarkt
Automotive-Plattformen	18 % Automobiltechnologiemarkt

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Schlüsselressourcen

Umfangreiches Patentportfolio

Im vierten Quartal 2023 hält QUALCOMM weltweit etwa 153.000 erteilte und angemeldete Patente. Das Patentportfolio wird auf schätzungsweise 50 Milliarden US-Dollar geschätzt.

Patentkategorie	Anzahl der Patente	Geografische Abdeckung
Drahtlose Kommunikationstechnologien	65,432	Global (über 140 Länder)
5G/6G-Technologien	22,567	Wichtige Technologiemärkte
Halbleiterdesign	45,321	Internationale Patentanmeldungen

Forschungs- und Entwicklungseinrichtungen

QUALCOMM investierte im Geschäftsjahr 2023 8,876 Milliarden US-Dollar in Forschung und Entwicklung, was 24,8 % des Gesamtumsatzes des Unternehmens entspricht.

• 6 große globale Forschungs- und Entwicklungszentren
• Forschungsstandorte in San Diego, Kalifornien (Hauptsitz)
• Zusätzliche Forschungs- und Entwicklungseinrichtungen in China, Indien und Europa

Arbeitskräfte und Humankapital

Gesamtzahl der Mitarbeiter im Jahr 2023: 51.000 Fachkräfte

Mitarbeiterkategorie	Prozentsatz	Anzahl der Mitarbeiter
Ingenieursprofis	68%	34,680
Forschungswissenschaftler	15%	7,650
Sonstiges technisches Personal	17%	8,670

Finanzielle Ressourcen

Finanzkennzahlen für das Geschäftsjahr 2023:

• Gesamtumsatz: 35,7 Milliarden US-Dollar
• Nettoeinkommen: 10,2 Milliarden US-Dollar
• Barmittel und Investitionen: 21,3 Milliarden US-Dollar
• Forschungsinvestitionen: 8,876 Milliarden US-Dollar

Technologische Innovationsressourcen

Zu den wichtigsten technologischen Schwerpunkten gehören 5G, KI-Chipsätze, Automobiltechnologien und drahtloses Halbleiterdesign.

Technologiesegment	Jährliche Investition	Patentanmeldungen
5G-Technologien	3,2 Milliarden US-Dollar	22,567
KI und maschinelles Lernen	1,5 Milliarden US-Dollar	12,345
Automobiltechnologien	1,1 Milliarden US-Dollar	8,900

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Wertversprechen

Modernste drahtlose Kommunikations- und Halbleitertechnologien

QUALCOMM erwirtschaftet ab 2023 einen Jahresumsatz von 44,2 Milliarden US-Dollar, wobei 97 % des Umsatzes aus Innovationen im Bereich der drahtlosen Technologie stammen.

Kategorie „Technologie“.	Marktanteil	Jährlicher Umsatzbeitrag
Mobile Chipsätze	62%	27,4 Milliarden US-Dollar
5G-Technologien	48%	21,3 Milliarden US-Dollar

Leistungsstarke mobile Chipsätze und Modems

• Die Snapdragon-Serie generiert jährlich 19,6 Milliarden US-Dollar
• Deckt 85 % des weltweiten Marktes für Smartphone-Prozessoren ab
• Unterstützt über 1,5 Milliarden Geräteverbindungen weltweit

Fortschrittliche 5G- und Wireless-Lösungen der nächsten Generation

QUALCOMM hält weltweit 140.000 Patente für drahtlose Technologie, wobei 5G-Patente 37 % des Gesamtportfolios ausmachen.

Segment 5G-Technologie	Globaler Marktwert	QUALCOMM-Marktposition
Drahtlose Infrastruktur	12,5 Milliarden US-Dollar	Führender Technologieanbieter
Smartphone-Modem-Technologie	8,7 Milliarden US-Dollar	92 % Marktbeherrschung

Robuste und effiziente mobile Konnektivitätstechnologien

QUALCOMM investiert jährlich 5,6 Milliarden US-Dollar in Forschung und Entwicklung für Konnektivitätstechnologien.

• Abdeckung der Wi-Fi 6- und 6E-Technologie
• Erweiterte Bluetooth 5.2-Implementierungen
• Edge-Computing-Konnektivitätslösungen

Innovatives geistiges Eigentum im Telekommunikationsbereich

QUALCOMM erwirtschaftet jährlich 8,3 Milliarden US-Dollar durch die Lizenzierung von Rechten an geistigem Eigentum.

IP-Kategorie	Jährliche Lizenzeinnahmen	Globale Technologieauswirkungen
Patente für drahtlose Kommunikation	6,2 Milliarden US-Dollar	Wird in 90 % der Mobilgeräte verwendet
Halbleiterdesign-IP	2,1 Milliarden US-Dollar	In über 150 Ländern implementiert

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Kundenbeziehungen

Technischer Support und Beratungsdienste

QUALCOMM bietet umfassenden technischen Support über mehrere Kanäle:

Globale Supportzentren	5 Hauptstandorte
Jährliche Mitarbeiter des technischen Supports	Über 1.200 engagierte Fachleute
Durchschnittliche Reaktionszeit	4-6 Stunden
Jährlicher Umsatz aus technischer Beratung	387 Millionen Dollar

Kontinuierliche Produktentwicklung und -anpassung

Der Produktanpassungsansatz von QUALCOMM umfasst:

• Maßgeschneiderte Halbleiterlösungen
• Adaptive 5G-Modemtechnologien
• Maßgeschneiderte Chipsatz-Designs für bestimmte Marktsegmente

F&E-Investitionen in kundenspezifische Anpassungen	5,9 Milliarden US-Dollar im Jahr 2023
Jährlich individuelle Designanfragen	427 einzigartige Projekte

Direkte Zusammenarbeit mit Telekommunikationsunternehmen

QUALCOMM unterhält strategische Beziehungen zu großen Telekommunikationsanbietern:

Anzahl globaler Telekommunikationspartner	87 Telekommunikationsunternehmen
Jährliche Kooperationstreffen	213 strategische Engagement-Sitzungen
Einnahmen aus Telekommunikationspartnerschaften	2,3 Milliarden US-Dollar im Jahr 2023

Programme und Ressourcen zur Entwicklerunterstützung

QUALCOMM bietet umfassende Unterstützung für das Entwickler-Ökosystem:

• Snapdragon-Entwicklerplattform
• Online-Dokumentation und SDK-Ressourcen
• Entwicklerkonferenzen und Workshops

Registrierte Entwickler	436.000 weltweit
Jährliches Entwickler-Support-Budget	127 Millionen Dollar

Regelmäßige Technologie-Updates und -Verbesserungen

QUALCOMM aktualisiert sein technologisches Angebot kontinuierlich:

Häufigkeit von Technologieaktualisierungen	Vierteljährliche Plattformveröffentlichungen
Jährliche Investitionen zur Technologieverbesserung	6,2 Milliarden US-Dollar
Patentanmeldungen im Zusammenhang mit Updates	1.247 neue Patente im Jahr 2023

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Kanäle

Direktvertriebsteam für Unternehmens- und Telekommunikationskunden

QUALCOMM verfügt ab dem vierten Quartal 2023 über ein globales Direktvertriebsteam von 8.700 Mitarbeitern, das sich der Betreuung von Unternehmens- und Telekommunikationskunden widmet.

Vertriebsregion	Anzahl der Direktvertriebsmitarbeiter
Nordamerika	3,200
Asien-Pazifik	2,900
Europa, Naher Osten, Afrika	1,800
Lateinamerika	800

Online-Produkt- und Technologieplattformen

QUALCOMM betreibt mehrere digitale Plattformen mit den folgenden Kennzahlen:

• Die Website Qualcomm.com verzeichnet monatlich 1,2 Millionen einzelne Besucher
• Das Entwicklerportal beherbergt 450.000 registrierte Technologieentwickler
• Online-Produktkatalog mit 127 verschiedenen Technologielösungen

Technologiekonferenzen und Branchenveranstaltungen

Ereignistyp	Jährliche Teilnahme	Durchschnittliche Veranstaltungsbesucherzahl
Globale Technologiekonferenzen	18	5.600 Teilnehmer
5G-Innovationsgipfel	12	3.200 Teilnehmer
Entwickler-Workshops	45	1.800 Teilnehmer

Strategische Partnerschaften mit Geräteherstellern

QUALCOMM unterhält strategische Partnerschaften mit 87 globalen Geräteherstellern in den Bereichen Smartphone, Automobil und IoT.

• Top 5 strategische Partner für die Geräteherstellung:
  • Samsung-Elektronik
  • Xiaomi Corporation
  • Lenovo-Gruppe
  • OPPO
  • Vivo

Digitales Marketing und technische Kommunikationskanäle

Digitaler Kanal	Anzahl der Follower/Abonnenten	Monatliches Engagement
LinkedIn	1,4 Millionen Follower	380.000 monatliche Interaktionen
Twitter	890.000 Follower	210.000 monatliche Interaktionen
Technischer YouTube-Kanal	450.000 Abonnenten	95.000 monatliche Aufrufe

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Kundensegmente

Smartphone-Hersteller

QUALCOMM beliefert mit seinen Snapdragon-Mobilplattformen weltweit große Smartphone-Hersteller.

Top-Smartphone-Hersteller	Marktanteil
Samsung	21.8%
Apfel	19.5%
Xiaomi	13.5%
Oppo	9.7%
Vivo	8.2%

Betreiber von Telekommunikationsnetzen

QUALCOMM bietet 5G-Technologielösungen für globale Telekommunikationsbetreiber.

• AT&T
• Verizon
• T-Mobile
• China Mobile
• Vodafone

Hersteller mobiler Geräte

QUALCOMM liefert Chipsätze und drahtlose Technologien an verschiedene Hersteller mobiler Geräte.

Gerätekategorie	Jährliche Lieferungen
Smartphones	1,38 Milliarden Einheiten
Tabletten	163,5 Millionen Einheiten
Wearables	530 Millionen Einheiten

Technologieunternehmen, die drahtlose Lösungen entwickeln

QUALCOMM arbeitet mit Technologieunternehmen zusammen, die drahtlose Innovationen entwickeln.

• Ericsson
• Nokia
• Huawei
• Intel

Benutzer von Unternehmens- und Industriekommunikationstechnologie

QUALCOMM bietet fortschrittliche drahtlose Technologien für Unternehmens- und Industrieanwendungen.

Branchensegment	Einführung der drahtlosen Technologie
Herstellung	42%
Gesundheitswesen	35%
Transport	28%
Landwirtschaft	19%

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Kostenstruktur

Umfangreiche Forschungs- und Entwicklungsaufwendungen

Für das Geschäftsjahr 2023 meldete QUALCOMM Gesamtaufwendungen für Forschung und Entwicklung in Höhe von 6,275 Milliarden US-Dollar, was 22,6 % des Gesamtumsatzes entspricht.

Geschäftsjahr	F&E-Ausgaben	Prozentsatz des Umsatzes
2023	6,275 Milliarden US-Dollar	22.6%
2022	5,893 Milliarden US-Dollar	21.3%

Hohe Investitionen in technologische Innovation

Die Technologieinvestitionen von QUALCOMM konzentrieren sich auf 5G-, KI- und Halbleitertechnologien.

• 5G-Forschungsinvestitionen: Ungefähr 1,8 Milliarden US-Dollar pro Jahr
• Entwicklung von KI und maschinellem Lernen: Rund 750 Millionen US-Dollar pro Jahr
• Fortgeschrittene Halbleiterforschung und -entwicklung: Ungefähr 2,5 Milliarden US-Dollar pro Jahr

Herstellungs- und Produktionskosten

QUALCOMMs Herstellungskosten für Halbleiter- und drahtlose Technologiekomponenten.

Kostenkategorie	Jährliche Ausgaben
Chipherstellung	3,2 Milliarden US-Dollar
Waferproduktion	1,5 Milliarden US-Dollar
Komponentenbeschaffung	1,1 Milliarden US-Dollar

Kosten für Patententwicklung und -wartung

QUALCOMM unterhält ein umfangreiches Patentportfolio mit erheblichen jährlichen Investitionen.

• Kosten für die Patentanmeldung: 250 Millionen US-Dollar pro Jahr
• Patentaufrechterhaltungsgebühren: 180 Millionen US-Dollar pro Jahr
• Rechtsunterstützung im Bereich geistiges Eigentum: 150 Millionen US-Dollar pro Jahr

Globaler Betriebs- und Verwaltungsaufwand

Die globalen Betriebskosten von QUALCOMM in mehreren Regionen.

Ausgabenkategorie	Jährliche Kosten
Globale Verwaltungskosten	1,4 Milliarden US-Dollar
Betriebsinfrastruktur	900 Millionen Dollar
Wartung des Internationalen Büros	450 Millionen Dollar

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) – Geschäftsmodell: Einnahmequellen

Verkauf von Halbleiterchips

Qualcomms Halbleiterchip-Umsatz im vierten Quartal 2023: 8,97 Milliarden US-Dollar

Produktkategorie	Umsatz (Q4 2023)
Snapdragon-Mobilplattformen	4,63 Milliarden US-Dollar
RF-Front-End-Chips	1,84 Milliarden US-Dollar
Halbleiterlösungen für die Automobilindustrie	492 Millionen US-Dollar

Patentlizenzgebühren

Einnahmen aus Patentlizenzen für das vierte Quartal 2023: 1,42 Milliarden US-Dollar

• Lizenzierung der 3G/4G/5G-Technologie
• Wesentliche Patente für den Wireless-Standard
• Globale Lizenzvereinbarungen mit Smartphone-Herstellern

Technologie-Lizenzgebühren

Gesamtumsatz aus Technologielizenzen im Jahr 2023: 5,68 Milliarden US-Dollar

Lizenzgebührenquelle	Jahresumsatz
Smartphone-Hersteller	4,12 Milliarden US-Dollar
Lizenzgebühren für IoT-Geräte	762 Millionen Dollar
Lizenzgebühren für die Automobiltechnik	386 Millionen US-Dollar

Mobile Technologielösungen

Umsatz mit mobilen Technologielösungen für 2023: 6,24 Milliarden US-Dollar

• 5G-Netzwerkinfrastrukturlösungen
• Mobile Computerplattformen
• Drahtlose Konnektivitätstechnologien

Beratungsdienste für drahtlose Kommunikationstechnologie

Umsatz mit Beratungsdienstleistungen im Jahr 2023: 340 Millionen US-Dollar

Art der Beratungsdienstleistung	Einnahmen
Netzwerkdesign-Beratung	156 Millionen Dollar
Technologieimplementierungsdienste	114 Millionen Dollar
Strategieberatung für drahtlose Technologie	70 Millionen Dollar

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core value Qualcomm Incorporated delivers to its customers and the market as of late 2025. It's about more than just chips; it's about enabling the next generation of intelligent, connected experiences across multiple industries. Honestly, their strategy hinges on owning the platform layer for these shifts.

Intelligent Computing Everywhere: Delivering on-device AI and high-performance, low-power computing

This is where Qualcomm is pushing hard, especially with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for mobile and the X2 Elite series for PCs. They are making a clear play to be the platform of choice for on-device Artificial Intelligence (AI). The goal is to move complex processing off the cloud and onto the device itself for better privacy and responsiveness. You see this commitment reflected in the silicon specs.

Here's the quick math on the latest silicon performance:

• The Snapdragon X2 Elite Neural Processing Unit (NPU) delivers up to 80 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second) of compute power for PCs.
• The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 NPU shows up to a 46% improved performance over its predecessor.
• The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Mobile Platform offers a 36% performance improvement versus the prior generation.
• Web browsing responsiveness on the 8 Gen 5 is up by 76%.
• For PC users, 93% of their time is now spent on native applications, with over 50 NPU-powered features available.

Wireless Technology Leadership: Pioneering 5G and next-generation wireless standards

Qualcomm Incorporated's foundation remains its deep intellectual property in wireless, owning patents critical to standards like 5G, 4G, and WCDMA. They aren't just resting on 5G, though; they are already pushing the envelope with their latest modem-RF systems. This leadership is what underpins their licensing revenue stream, QTL, which remains a high-margin business.

For instance, the Snapdragon X85 5G Modem-RF platform, which was introduced, is designed to deliver download speeds exceeding 10 Gbps, hitting up to 12.5 Gbps, with upload speeds of 3.7 Gbps. To give you context on the market they are driving, the global 5G chipset market was projected to be worth USD 43.87 billion in 2025.

Snapdragon Digital Chassis: Comprehensive platform for connected and autonomous vehicles

The automotive segment is the company's fastest-growing vertical, validating their diversification strategy away from being solely mobile-dependent. The Snapdragon Digital Chassis is the umbrella for their cockpit, connectivity, and ride/ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems) solutions. Automakers are choosing this platform to simplify sourcing and own the end-to-end user experience, moving away from traditional fixed-feature boxes.

The financial results show this momentum clearly. Check out the automotive revenue growth across the fiscal year:

Fiscal QTR 2025	Automotive Revenue (Millions USD)	Year-over-Year Growth
Q1	$961	61%
Q2	$959	59%
Q3	$984	21%
Q4	$1,050 (Record High)	17%

For the full fiscal year 2025, the combined Automotive and IoT revenue growth reached 27% year-over-year. Furthermore, the company is executing on long-term design wins, with 29 commercial vehicle launches utilizing the Digital Chassis since the start of the fiscal year, supporting a target of $8 billion in automotive revenue by 2029.

Power Efficiency: Commitment to reducing power consumption by 10% annually in flagship chips

Power efficiency isn't just a feature; it's a stated corporate responsibility target and a key performance metric for their flagship silicon. The commitment was to reduce power consumption by 10% annually in flagship Snapdragon Mobile Platform products. We see evidence of this goal being met in the latest product announcements, which is defintely important for battery life.

For example, the Snapdragon X2 Series chips claim a more than 10% chipset power reduction across common day-to-day scenarios like web browsing and streaming. Also, architectural refinements, like the Adreno GPU's new High-performance Memory (HPM) acting as a fast cache, reduce memory bandwidth by 30%-40%, leading to a 10%-15% improvement in battery life specifically for gamers.

Complete System Solutions: Providing integrated chipsets, software, and RF front-end (RFFE)

Qualcomm Incorporated's value proposition is the integration of hardware and software into a complete stack, which is evident in their QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) segment performance. This segment, which includes chipsets, is the engine of their product revenue. For the full fiscal year 2025, total GAAP revenue reached $44.3 billion, with Non-GAAP revenue at $44.284 billion.

The QCT segment delivered record fiscal year revenues, with the latest reported quarterly revenue (Q4 FY25) hitting $11.270 billion. This is supported by the high-margin licensing business (QTL), which posted a Q4 FY25 revenue of $1.41 billion and maintained a strong EBT margin of 72%. The PC market is also a focus for this system solution approach, with over 85 Snapdragon X-powered PC designs in development, targeting $4 billion in PC revenue by 2029.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how QUALCOMM Incorporated manages its relationships with the entities that buy its chips and pay for its patents as of late 2025. It's a dual-engine approach: selling silicon (QCT) and collecting recurring fees (QTL).

Strategic OEM Engagement: Deep, long-term technical collaboration with major customers like Samsung and Apple.

The relationship with top-tier Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) is foundational, especially for premium-tier smartphone platforms. QUALCOMM Incorporated's business model shows a clear concentration among its largest customers.

For the fiscal year ending September 28, 2025, revenues from Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues. This level of reliance means these relationships are managed at the highest levels, involving deep technical collaboration on next-generation Snapdragon platforms, such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform introduced in September 2025.

The QTL segment, which manages licensing, also saw key relationship milestones in FY2025. During the second quarter of fiscal 2025, QUALCOMM executed final agreements for new long-term licenses with two key Chinese OEMs whose initial terms had expired, and entered into comprehensive 4G and 5G license agreements with Transsion. Conversely, QTL revenues for FY2025 did not include royalties from Huawei, as that license agreement expired.

Dedicated Sales Teams: Direct sales and engineering support for large-volume customers (QCT).

The QCT segment relies on direct engagement to drive volume, particularly in premium Android handsets, automotive, and IoT. The success in handsets is directly tied to the volume of devices shipped using Snapdragon platforms.

For the full fiscal year 2025, QCT achieved record annual revenues of approximately $38.4 billion. The Handsets unit, a key area for direct OEM sales, posted Q4 FY25 revenue of $6.96 billion, showing a 14% year-over-year growth. The company is focused on maintaining this momentum, anticipating record QCT handset revenues with low teens percentage growth sequentially in Q1 FY26, driven by new flagship Android launches.

The diversification strategy is supported by dedicated teams focused on non-handset areas:

• Total QCT non-Apple fiscal year revenues grew 18% year-over-year in FY2025.
• Combined QCT Automotive and IoT fiscal year revenue growth reached 27% in FY2025.
• Automotive revenue for Q4 FY25 exceeded $1 billion.
• IoT revenue for Q4 FY25 was $1.81 billion, a 7% year-over-year increase.

Licensing Program Management: Legal and business teams managing the global QTL royalty structure.

The QTL segment is the high-margin engine, managed by legal and business teams ensuring compliance and collection across the global licensee base. The structure is primarily based on per-unit royalties from sales of OFDMA-based products.

The financial performance of this relationship management is starkly different from the product sales segment. For fiscal 2025, QTL EBT as a percentage of revenues was 72%, compared to QCT's EBT margin of 30% in Q4 FY25.

Here's a look at the QTL revenue performance across recent quarters in fiscal 2025:

Metric	Q1 FY2025	Q4 FY2025	FY2025 (Annual)
Licensing Revenues (in billions)	$1.5	$1.41	Approximately flat vs. FY2024
EBT Margin	75%	72%	72%

The company is guiding for Q1 FY26 QTL revenues in the range of $1.4 billion-$1.6 billion with EBT margins between 74%-78%.

Developer Ecosystem: Providing software tools and AI Hub for third-party developers.

Customer relationships extend to the software and application developers who build on QUALCOMM Incorporated's platforms, especially critical for the new AI-centric computing push. This is evident in the PC space with the Snapdragon X processors.

The Snapdragon X Elite features a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU delivering 45 TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second) of performance. The company is actively building out the ecosystem to support this hardware, which is designed to power Copilot+ PCs targeting the $600 price point.

The expansion of the Snapdragon ecosystem is quantified by the number of designs powered by the platforms:

• Snapdragon platforms powered 124 designs in handsets in Q3 2025.
• Snapdragon platforms powered 19 designs in XR devices in Q3 2025.

To enhance developer support, QUALCOMM has made strategic acquisitions, such as the agreement to acquire Alphawave Semi, a specialist in high-speed connectivity for AI and data infrastructure, with an enterprise value of approximately $2.4 billion.

Channel Partner Support: Doubling funding and expanding teams for the Snapdragon X PC channel.

To drive adoption of Snapdragon X Series in the PC market against Intel and AMD, QUALCOMM Incorporated has made significant, quantifiable investments in its channel relationships, moving from a direct-only model to a robust partner network.

In 2025, the company is doubling partner funding and quadrupling the size of its global commercial channel team. This effort aims to expand the partner roster to more than 100 global commercial channel partners in 2025, up from 40 partners in 12 regions the prior year, and just 13 partners in five regions before that. This investment is critical to the goal of making Snapdragon X-powered PCs available as low as $700 in 2025.

The engagement is translating into direct sales activities:

Channel partners executed more than 400 channel-led proofs of concept in the first two quarters of product availability for the Snapdragon X Series.

The company expects about 40-50% of unit sales in the PC market to come from the commercial segment by fiscal 2029, making these channel relationships super important to the goal of making $4 billion in revenue from PC processors by 2029.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how QUALCOMM Incorporated moves its silicon and intellectual property to the market, which is a dual-engine approach: selling chips (QCT) and collecting royalties (QTL). The scale of the QCT segment in fiscal 2025, generating $38.37 B in revenue, shows the sheer volume moving through these channels, representing 87.3% of the total revenue, while QTL brought in $5.58 B.

Direct Sales Force

The direct sales force is critical for the high-volume, high-value QCT segment, especially with major global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). This channel is where the bulk of the $38.37 B QCT revenue originates.

The concentration of revenue here is notable; in fiscal 2025, revenues from Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of QUALCOMM Incorporated's consolidated revenues. This means direct engagement with these top-tier partners is paramount for handset chip sales, which saw Q4 FY25 revenue of $6.96 B. The Automotive segment, which posted Q4 FY25 revenue of $1.05 B, also relies heavily on direct sales to secure design wins for the Snapdragon Digital Chassis.

Technology Licensing (QTL)

The QTL channel is the high-margin, cash-generative side, collecting per-unit royalties based on the wholesale selling price of licensed products. This segment is less about direct product movement and more about IP enforcement and collection, evidenced by its strong Q4 FY25 EBT margin of 72%. The revenue scales as more devices, even those not using QUALCOMM Incorporated chips, incorporate cellular standards covered by the company's essential patents.

Global Distributors

For the smaller, more fragmented Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial customers, global distributors are the necessary conduit. While specific distributor revenue figures aren't broken out, the IoT segment within QCT is a significant channel, generating $1.81 B in Q4 FY25 revenue. QUALCOMM Incorporated's strategy here involves providing a broad portfolio, like the Dragonwing products, that can be customized and distributed through these established channels to address the highly fragmented IoT market.

Commercial Channel Partners

The push into the PC market with Snapdragon X processors has necessitated a rapid scaling of the commercial channel. This is a new, aggressive focus area for QUALCOMM Incorporated.

Here's a look at the channel expansion metrics for the Snapdragon X launch:

Metric	FY2024 End (Approx.)	FY2025 Target/Actual
Global Commercial Channel Partners	13 partners in 5 regions	Scaling to 100+ partners across all regions
Channel Campaigns Launched (June-Dec Last Year)	N/A	Over 36 campaigns
Business Customers Testing Snapdragon X PCs	N/A	Over 6,000
Total Commercial Customers Identified (Testing/Deploying)	N/A	14,000 unique customers
Consumer Channel Partners (Snapdragon X)	N/A	45 partners in 20 countries

The company is making a massive commitment to this channel, doubling partner funding and quadrupling the size of its global commercial channel team in 2025. The goal is to convert those 14,000 testing customers into large fleet deployments, supporting a long-term revenue target of $4 billion from PC processors by fiscal 2029.

The reach is secured by design wins across every volume Windows notebook maker, including:

• Acer
• Asus
• Dell Technologies (e.g., Latitude)
• HP (e.g., EliteBook)
• Lenovo (e.g., ThinkPad)
• Microsoft Surface
• Samsung (e.g., Galaxy Book4)

There are now more than 30 device models available globally from these enterprise brands.

Back-end Manufacturing

While QUALCOMM Incorporated is primarily fabless, its supply chain channels involve strategic, owned facilities for critical post-silicon processes. The company's subsidiary, Quanxun RF Technology (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. in China, is specifically focused on back-end packaging and testing. Furthermore, RF360 Holdings Singapore Pte. Ltd. takes wafer processing technology developed elsewhere and realizes mass production. Singapore also hosts a test centre of excellence for design verification and failure analysis.

The global revenue distribution reflects this channel strategy, with a substantial 97% of consolidated revenues in Q1 2025 originating from international customers and licensees, with China alone contributing 49%.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core buyers for QUALCOMM Incorporated's technology as of late 2025. It's a diverse group, moving well beyond just phones, which is key to their current financial narrative.

Mobile Handset OEMs: Primarily premium-tier Android device manufacturers.

This remains the largest customer group, though diversification efforts are clearly paying off. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, handset revenues hit $6.96 billion, marking a 14% year-over-year increase. This growth was specifically backed by solid traction in premium Android handsets powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 platform. For the full fiscal year 2025, QUALCOMM Incorporated's total QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) revenue reached $38.4 billion. It's important to note that a small number of customers, specifically Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi, each comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues in fiscal 2025.

Automotive OEMs: Manufacturers adopting the Snapdragon Digital Chassis.

This segment is showing significant momentum, hitting a record high in the final quarter of fiscal 2025. Automotive revenues in Q4 FY2025 were in excess of $1 billion, specifically reported as a record high of $1.05 billion, a 17% rise year-over-year. For the entire fiscal year 2025, combined Automotive and IoT revenue growth was 27% year-over-year, with Automotive revenue growth specifically cited at 36% for the full year. The Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform is the engine here, bringing high-performance computing and connectivity to new vehicle launches.

IoT Device Makers: Across consumer (PCs, XR), industrial, and edge networking.

The Internet of Things (IoT) segment is another major growth driver, showing strong expansion in fiscal 2025. In Q4 FY2025, IoT revenues were $1.81 billion, up 7% year-over-year. This growth was fueled by solid demand for the Snapdragon AR1 chipset in the emerging AI smart glasses category. For the full fiscal year 2025, IoT revenue growth was 22% year-over-year.

Here's a quick look at the revenue contributions from the key growth areas in Q4 FY2025:

Customer Segment Focus	Latest Reported Quarterly Revenue (Q4 FY2025)	Year-over-Year Growth (Q4 FY2025)
Mobile Handset OEMs (Handsets)	$6.96 billion	14%
Automotive OEMs	$1.05 billion	17%
IoT Device Makers	$1.81 billion	7%

PC Manufacturers: OEMs adopting the Snapdragon X platform for AI PCs.

This is a newer, high-potential segment where QUALCOMM Incorporated is aggressively gaining ground against established competitors. As of late 2025, Snapdragon X chips were powering 10% of high-end Windows PCs in the United States (defined as devices priced above $800). This represents a significant jump from capturing only 0.8% of the entire PC market shortly after launch. QUALCOMM Incorporated has an ambitious target to capture 50% market share in the entire Windows PC market within five years. Over 80 PC models based on Snapdragon X chips were expected in 2025.

Network Infrastructure Providers: Utilizing connectivity and RFFE products.

While direct revenue figures for this specific customer group aren't broken out separately in the primary segment reporting, their needs are addressed within the broader QCT segment, which saw total non-Apple revenues grow 18% year-over-year in fiscal 2025. Growth in areas like Wi-Fi 7 access points and 5G fixed wireless solutions, which serve this infrastructure space, contributed to the overall IoT revenue strength.

The diversification strategy is clearly working; combined Automotive and IoT fiscal year revenues grew 36% and 22% year-over-year, respectively, for fiscal 2025.

• Fiscal 2025 total non-GAAP revenues for QUALCOMM Incorporated were $44 billion, up 13% year-over-year.
• QCT segment EBT margin was 30% in fiscal 2025, meeting the long-term target.
• Technology Licensing (QTL) revenues for fiscal 2025 were $5.58 billion, representing 12.7% of total revenue.
• QUALCOMM Incorporated generated $14.01 billion in net cash from operating activities in fiscal 2025.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the major outflows that keep QUALCOMM Incorporated running, the costs that directly offset the revenue from their chip sales and licensing deals. Honestly, for a company built on foundational IP, the cost structure is heavily weighted toward future innovation and defending the existing moat.

The most significant, recurring, and strategic cost is the investment in tomorrow's technology. This is a high fixed cost base, necessary to maintain technological leadership in wireless and computing.

Research and Development (R&D) Costs

QUALCOMM Incorporated's commitment to R&D is clear in the books. For the full fiscal year ending September 28, 2025, R&D expenses were substantial, reflecting ongoing work in AI, 5G Advanced, and automotive platforms.

Here are the key expense figures for the fiscal year 2025 (Year Ended September 28, 2025), based on GAAP reporting:

Cost Category	FY2025 Amount (in millions)	FY2025 Amount (in billions)
Research and Development (R&D)	$9,042	$9.042
Cost of Revenues (Cost of Equipment and Services)	$19,738	$19.738
Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A)	$3,110	$3.110

The Cost of Revenues, which primarily covers wafer fabrication, assembly, and test costs for the QCT segment, represents the largest single expense category at $19,738 million for the full fiscal year 2025. This scales directly with chip volume.

Sales, General, and Administrative (SG&A)

SG&A expenses for fiscal 2025 totaled $3,110 million. This covers the necessary overhead, including marketing efforts to push new products like the Snapdragon X Elite Extreme CPU chip and channel expansion costs to support global sales.

Patent Litigation and Regulatory Expenses

While specific, recurring litigation expense figures aren't always broken out cleanly in the main statements, defending the QTL model is a constant cost driver. You saw a major event in late 2025 when QUALCOMM Incorporated achieved a complete victory over Arm in litigation challenging licensing agreements in September 2025, which validates the model but implies significant prior legal spend. Still, another separate lawsuit against Arm for breach of contract is ongoing, with an expected trial in March 2026.

These legal battles are not abstract; they are direct costs to protect the core revenue stream.

Non-Cash Tax Charge

A major, non-operational item hit the GAAP results in Q4 FY2025. This was a one-time, non-cash charge of $5.7 billion. This charge was established to create a valuation allowance against U.S. federal deferred tax assets due to new tax legislation, specifically the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The impact of this charge was:

• Resulted in a GAAP net loss of $3.117 billion for Q4 Fiscal 2025.
• Equated to a loss of $2.89 per share on a GAAP basis for the quarter.
• Was excluded from Non-GAAP metrics, which showed a positive EPS of $3.00 for the quarter.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at how QUALCOMM Incorporated actually brings in the money, which is really about two main engines: selling the hardware and collecting the licensing fees. For fiscal year 2025, the total GAAP revenue hit $44.3 billion. This revenue is split between the two primary reportable segments: QCT and QTL.

The Equipment and Services segment, known as QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies), is the workhorse, generating record fiscal year revenues of $38.367 billion in FY2025, which represented about 87.3% of total revenue. The Technology Licensing segment, QTL, brought in $5.582 billion, making up the remaining 12.7% of the total.

Here's a look at the full-year 2025 revenue breakdown by segment:

Segment	FY2025 Revenue (in billions)	Percentage of Total Revenue
QCT (Equipment and Services)	$38.367	87.3%
QTL (Technology Licensing)	$5.582	12.7%

The QCT segment itself is disaggregated based on where the chipsets and platforms are sold. This is where you see the direct sales of their Snapdragon and Dragonwing platforms, modems, and RF front-end products. The growth in QCT for FY2025 was largely driven by higher handsets revenue, better average selling prices, and increased shipments from major OEMs for premium-tier Snapdragon platforms.

The revenue streams within QCT for the full fiscal year 2025 were:

• Equipment and Services (QCT): Sales of chipsets and platforms, totaling $38.367 billion in FY2025.
• Handsets Revenue: This is the largest QCT component, reaching $27.793 billion, up 12 percent year-over-year.
• IoT Revenue: Sales from consumer, industrial, and edge networking devices, which hit $5.423 billion, showing 22 percent growth.
• Automotive Revenue: This fast-growing segment reached $3.957 billion, marking a 36 percent increase from the prior year.

It's important to note the diversification success; the combined fiscal year Automotive and IoT revenue growth was 27% year-over-year. The Automotive segment specifically saw its revenue reach $3.957 billion.

The Technology Licensing (QTL) revenue stream is based on royalty payments on wireless IP, primarily from licensees' sales of 4G and 5G devices. For fiscal year 2025, QTL generated $5.582 billion. QTL EBT margin for the year was strong, reported at 71% in Q3 FY25, showing the high-margin nature of this business.

To be fair, the growth rates varied across the year; for instance, Q3 FY2025 showed Automotive revenue up 21% to $984 million and IoT up 24% to $1.681 billion, while the full-year figures show stronger overall growth. The full-year results confirm the strategic pivot: QCT non-Apple revenues grew 18% year-over-year.

You can see the full-year 2025 QCT components here:

QCT Revenue Stream	FY2025 Revenue (in millions)	Year-over-Year Growth
Handsets	$27,793	+12%
IoT	$5,423	+22%
Automotive	$3,957	+36%

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.