Qualcomm aims to accelerate IoT ecosystem growth through innovation and expanded channel
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, will discuss the growing momentum across many Internet of Things (IoT) business verticals at its IoT industry analyst workshop.It also announced that it has expanded the distribution channels for its products and now reaches more than 9,000 customers, nearly 20 times the number of customers compared to 2014, through indirect sales channels including more than 25 global distributors.
This expansion complements direct sales activities to help a broad range of customers develop new and exciting consumer and industrial IoT solutions using Qualcomm Technologies system-on-chips (SoCs), modems and connectivity solutions.
To further help its customers, Qualcomm Technologies makes available more than 30 production-ready reference design platforms through a network of original design manufacturers (ODMs) for products including voice-enabled home hubs and smart displays, smart speakers, connected cameras, appliances, smart watches and more – all as part of Qualcomm Technologies’ core strategy of driving its technologies into higher growth industries.
“We are committed to providing innovative technologies to help expand the IoT ecosystem. We are looking to make it easier for companies of all sizes to succeed in designing and commercialising innovative IoT solutions and to participate in this huge opportunity,” said Cristiano Amon, president, Qualcomm Incorporated.
“The strategy we set a few years back of taking our leading-edge technologies into growth opportunities is delivering results. We expect IoT revenues in excess of $1 billion (€0.86 billion) this fiscal year after solid double-digit growth over the last couple of years, driven by our ability to reuse our investments and R&D in mobile technology to make this a very healthy business.”
Ecosystem momentum
At the analyst day, Qualcomm Technologies’ executives will discuss overall IoT momentum and highlight some specific areas of growth. Qualcomm Technologies’ traction in IoT spans across a variety of ecosystems supported by direct sales activities and the expanded indirect sales channels.
In Industrial IoT segments, including enterprise, manufacturing, retail, supply chain and utilities, Qualcomm Technologies’ modems and SoCs are providing vital connectivity and edge processing for products such as point of sale terminals and industrial handhelds.
As a result, revenues are growing rapidly and are on track to double this fiscal year versus two years ago. Qualcomm Technologies anticipates its addressable opportunity in the Industrial IoT will grow at an approximately 20% CAGR over the next few years, and it expects to exceed that growth with its Industrial IoT revenues.
In smart homes, Qualcomm Technologies’ innovations in mesh Wi-Fi and 11ax solutions are helping solidify the Company’s leading Wi-Fi position in retail including home access points and routers, with major manufacturers of mesh Wi-Fi relying on Qualcomm Technologies’ solutions to help provide whole-home wireless connectivity.
This strength in home connectivity, coupled with recent product introductions featuring edge computing, on-device Artificial Intelligence (AI) and voice control, is designed to help the Company grow its footprint in connected and smart home devices such as appliances, lighting, and more recently smart displays including an award-winning product launch from Lenovo. Qualcomm Technologies expects four-fold revenue increases in SoC chipsets from the Home Entertainment segment in fiscal 2018 versus a year ago.
In cameras, Qualcomm Technologies’ products feature superb image quality and support for on-device AI and as a result have been selected by major enterprise and consumer camera brands such as Lighthouse, Ricoh Theta, Cisco Meraki and Kedacom, and the Company expects about 120% revenue growth in SoC chipsets for connected cameras in fiscal 2018 versus the prior year.
In voice and music, more than 1,300 products feature the popular Qualcomm aptX wireless audio technology, including nearly 100 products using the flagship aptX HD codec which supports crisp, high definition sound over Bluetooth.
Premium brands using aptX and aptX HD include Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Bowers & Wilkins and LG, with more high-quality wireless speakers, headsets, hearables and earbuds to come, such as the Oppo O-Free, which is based on Qualcomm Technologies’ latest Bluetooth audio SoCs.
In smart wearables, more than 200 wearable devices are based on Qualcomm Technologies’ solutions and the number of devices continues to grow at an average rate of one new customer design-win per week. Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear platforms are designed to meet the performance, power, sensors, and connectivity requirements across smartwatches, kid watches and smart tracker segments.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), as of Q1 2018, Snapdragon Wear platforms power an increasing majority of Wear OS device shipments. Qualcomm Technologies is also driving the transition to 4G in kids watches including a dedicated platform for this segment launched in June 2018.
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