Qualcomm’s focus on artificial intelligence (AI) came through loud and clear during the first day of its Snapdragon Summit 2023, which is being held this week in Maui.
Qualcomm has held its annual Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii for years, but the scene leading up to this year’s event was different after the tragic fires that swept through Lahaina on August 8. That was something the company addressed at the beginning of Tuesday’s keynote kick-off.
In the early planning stages of the Snapdragon Summit 2023, “we did take a step back,” Qualcomm Chief Marketing Officer Don McGuire told an audience of about 400 in the room, with many more watching online. “We asked: Is this the right time to return to the island?”
Qualcomm worked with the local government and others to make sure they’re being sensitive to the people of the island. “Today, Maui has welcomed us back with open arms,” he said. “We are honored to be here supporting recovery efforts,” which, according to McGuire, includes Summit attendees planting hundreds of bushes and trees on the island.
Important time for Qualcomm
In a report summarizing Day 1 of Snapdragon Summit 2023, CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber noted the backdrop of the Summit was challenging, not just because of the difficult decision to go ahead with the event but also the stagnation in the smartphone market. Qualcomm’s revenue fell 23% year-on-year in its fiscal Q3 2023 and guidance calls for a 25% year-on -year drop in revenue for is fiscal Q4 2023.
“Qualcomm succeeded in delivering a vision with a strong focus on the experiences its platforms will enable for consumers,” Blaber said. “AI was a consistent theme of the event and its announcements, building on Qualcomm’s message of the importance of on-device AI.”
In July, Qualcomm announced it was working with Meta to make Meta’s large language model, Llama 2, available on devices like smartphones, PCs, VR/AR headsets and vehicles. On Tuesday, Qualcomm presented a video of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussing Meta’s relationship with Qualcomm over the years and how they’re making the benefits of AI a lot more accessible.
Qualcomm argues that AI is all well and good, but it’s better to run it on devices versus strictly via the cloud. While it cites various reasons for that, a couple of them have to do with privacy and personalization. Keeping everything on the device presumably means less risk of information getting compromised. By way of personalization, location or contextual information can be used to provide more relevant answers.
During his keynote, Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon predicted this year’s summit will be the most impactful thus far, a sentiment shared by analysts.
Indeed, Qualcomm made a bevy of announcements, including its latest premium mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, its first mobile platform “meticulously designed with genitive AI in mind.” It will be adopted for Android phones made by the likes of ASUS, Honor, OnePlus, OPPO, Sony, Xiaomi and ZTE, to name a few. First in line: The Xiaomi 14 Series, launching October 26.
Qualcomm also announced the Snapdragon X Elite platform featuring the custom integrated Qualcomm Oryon CPU, which follows on the acquisition of Nuvia. The product is expected to help close the gap on the power-to-performance levels that Apple achieves with its custom silicon and gain a march on AMD, Intel and Arm-based rivals, Blaber said. PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite are expected from OEMs starting in mid-2024.
Prominent support at the event from Meta, Microsoft and Google provided significant validation of Qualcomm’s strategy for AI, according to Blaber.
“The embrace of AI is a big step forward for Qualcomm and central to enabling consumer experiences on a huge scale,” Blaber wrote. “Attention on the likes of ChatGPT and Bard has spiraled, but these are very powerful models with crude interfaces that hold limited appeal to mass-market users. The introduction of APIs for developers adds another layer of interest.”
In CCS Insight’s view, the impact is comparable to the introduction in 2008 of app marketplaces by Apple and Google, supported by a library of developer APIs. “Android and iOS became disruptive when they enabled millions of experiences and lit the touchpaper on the app economy. It will be the same with generative AI,” he said.