Qualcomm’s Intel Buyout Unlikely Due to Antitrust and Foundry Concerns, Analysts Say

[Tsing]

Qualcomm, the American multinational corporation best known for its range of semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology, including the ubiquitous family of Snapdragon SoCs for mobile devices, is unlikely to purchase Intel despite recent reports that suggest otherwise, including those that have claimed Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon himself is deeply involved in negotiations to acquire the five-decade-old company, according to the latest thoughts shared by industry analysts.

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[Zarathustra]

The fact that there is even talk of this is an astonishing turn of events.

 

[Uvilla]

They should, I dont see the concerns.
Qualcomm is a more agressive company at this point, it would be a plus for industry.

 

[Zarathustra]

They should, I dont see the concerns.
Qualcomm is a more agressive company at this point, it would be a plus for industry.

To me, the biggest problem with Qualcomm is that they don't support their products long term.

They seemingly launch each new SoC with a set of drivers, and then abandon them quickly thereafter, meaning they have an artificially imposed very short lifespan in the field.

That mindset would be catastrophic if applied to the PC market where it is not uncommon to continue using a CPU for a decade or more.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Didn't know that.

 

[Zarathustra]

Didn't know that.

Yeah, traditionally why Android phones had such short support lifespans.

Qualcomm made most of the SoC's, and while they provided drivers for the launch versions of Android, they refused to update or support them long term, meaning that within ~2 years, the phones would stop receiving updates.

It took both Google (Pixel) and Samsung making their own SoC's for them to be able to offer more competitive support life cycles.

Note how Samsung was always able to offer longer support life for their phones than other Android phones that tended to use Qualcomms Snapdragon SoC's due to them making their own Exynos SoC's.

Also note how the Pixel 5a - the Pixel to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC - was also the last to have a sub 5-year support life.