Why Cisco Builds Silicon for the Data Center but Buys It for Wi‑Fi
Two domains. Two silicons. One intentional strategy.
Broadcom Heats the Wi‑Fi 8 Conversation
Qualcomm is signaling readiness through ecosystem validation, while Broadcom is sampling silicon to OEMs to kickstart hardware development.
“Chips” is now the “C” in CES
While the focus of CES 2026 remained on consumer electronics, this year felt different. More expansive, with the semiconductor industry dominating the pre-show with overlapping announcements that reveal diverging strategies for AI workload acceleration, manufacturing sovereignty, and market expansion beyond traditional computing segments.
Research Note: Qualcomm Validates Wi‑Fi 8 Silicon with LitePoint — A Key Readiness Milestone
For enterprise leaders the marketing noise of Wi-Fi 8 is beginning to be replaced by concrete readiness indicators.
Stop Buying Labels and Start Buying Silicon
Most buyers never ask about it.
Most vendors never volunteer it.
But it’s the only part of the AP that actually matters: the silicon.
Research Note: Qualcomm Acquires RISC-V Player Ventana
Qualcomm Technologies this week announced the acquisition of Ventana Micro Systems, a developer of high-performance RISC-V CPU designs for datacenter and enterprise applications. The acquisition brings proven RISC-V engineering talent and existing chiplet designs into Qualcomm’s portfolio, complementing its custom Arm-based Oryon CPU development.
Call Notes: Q4 Semiconductor Tracker
We’re in a moment that’s less about individual chip performance and more about processing-at-scale. It’s all about sprawling AI racks, optics, interconnect, and custom silicon hungry for scale, speed, and a story.
Quick Take: Qualcomm’s Diversification Strategy is Paying Off
Qualcomm’s fiscal Q4 2025 results tell a story that extends far beyond the smartphone chips that built the company. While the guidance-busting earnings numbers, $11.3 billion in revenue and $3.00 EPS, are impressive, it’s not the full story.
Research Note: Qualcomm Introduces AI200 & AI250 for Data Center Inference
Qualcomm Technologies recently announced two data center inference accelerators, the AI200 and AI250, targeting commercial availability in 2026 and 2027, respectively. The products are Qualcomm’s first strategic push into rack-scale AI inference.
Research Note: Qualcomm Acquires Arduino, Extends IoT Reach
Qualcomm announced its acquisition of Arduino, an open-source hardware and software company with an estimated 33 million active users.
The acquisition arrives as Qualcomm accelerates diversification beyond smartphones through its Dragonwing brand, launched earlier in 2025, showing the strong organizational commitment to IoT and edge computing as primary growth engines, alongside automotive.
Research Note: Qualcomm Shows Strong Automotive Momentum @ IAA
Qualcomm announced multiple strategic partnerships aimed at strengthening its position in the automotive technology market at the recent IAA Mobility 2025 event in Germany.
The company announced collaborations with Mercedes-Benz, BMW Group, Google Cloud, HARMAN, and Valeo, spanning digital cockpit systems, automated driving platforms, AI-powered agents, and ADAS solutions.
NAND Insider Newsletter: April 6 2025
Each week NAND Research puts out a newsletter for our industry customers taking a look at what’s driving the week, and what happened last week that caught our attention. Below is a excerpt from this week’s, April 6, 2025.
Quick Take: Qualcomm Acquires VinAI’s MovianAI Division
Qualcomm last week announced its acquisition of MovianAI, the generative AI division of VinAI, a leading Vietnamese AI research firm within the Vingroup ecosystem. The acquisition will enhance Qualcomm’s generative AI R&D capabilities by bringing VinAI’s deep expertise in AI, machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing to its already-strong arsenal.
March Cyber Tracker: AI, Partnerships, and the Future of Cyber Resilience
Cyber threats are evolving, and the industry is fighting back with AI-powered defenses, strategic alliances, and enhanced resilience measures. Here’s what we’ve seen over the past month that’s captured our attention:
Quick Take: Ambient IoT Alliance
The newly launched Ambient IoT Alliance aims to develop and promote a global ecosystem for ambient IoT, which refers to battery-free, energy-harvesting devices that seamlessly connect to existing wireless networks. These devices can track real-time data such as location, temperature, humidity, and more—all without requiring traditional power sources.
NAND Insider Newsletter: January 21, 2025
Every week NAND Research puts out a newsletter for our industry customers. Below is an excerpt from this week’s.
NAND Insider Newsletter: January 5, 2025
Every week NAND Research puts out a newsletter for our industry customers. Below is a excerpt from this week’s.
IT Infrastructure Round-Up: Emerging Trends in Infrastructure and Connectivity (Nov 2024)
November was a busy month of announcements in infrastructure and connectivity, revealing a convergence of innovation to meet the stringent demands of AI-driven workloads, scalability, and cost efficiency.
Research Note: Qualcomm FQ3 2024 Earnings
In its fiscal third quarter, Qualcomm demonstrated strong financial performance, driven by its continued success in diversifying its business beyond mobile handsets into sectors like automotive, IoT, and PCs. With its focus on innovation, particularly in AI and advanced computing, Qualcomm is well-positioned to sustain its leadership across various industries.
Research Note: Ampere Computing 1H 2024 Roadmap Update
Ampere Computing released its annual roadmap update, outlining significant progress and strategic initiatives aimed at driving innovation in sustainable, power-efficient computing for cloud and AI applications.
Research Note: MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results
MLCommons released the results of its MLPerf Inference v4.0 benchmarks, which introduced two new workloads, Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion XL.
Since its inception in 2018, MLPerf has established itself as a crucial benchmark in the accelerator market. The benchmarks offer detailed comparisons across a variety of system configurations for specific use cases.
Research Note: Arm’s New Automotive Cores
Arm recently launched new safety-enabled AE processors incorporating Armv9 technology and server-class performance. These processors are tailored for AI-driven applications to enhance autonomous driving and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).
Research Brief: Inside the Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 Accelerator
This Research Brief unpacks the features, applications, and technological advancements of the Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 and Cloud AI 100 Ultra.
Research Note: Inside Qualcomm’s Fiscal Q4 2023 Earnings Results
Qualcomm (QCOM) this week released its fiscal Q4 2023 earnings. The company’s CEO, Cristiano Amon, highlighted key achievements and strategic initiatives, including advances in generative AI, expansion into the PC market, developments in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), and its growing presence in networking and automotive sectors.
Research Note: Inside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite
Qualcomm unveiled its highly anticipated Snapdragon X Elite system-on-a-chip (SoC), representing a significant leap in its chip design capabilities. This next-generation Arm-based SoC is designed to power Windows devices and showcases Qualcomm’s commitment to high-performance computing.
Qualcomm Introduces 10G Broadband and Wi-Fi 7 Fiber Gateway
This week Qualcomm introduced its new 10G Fiber Gateway Platform, the industry’s first fully integrated 5G advanced-ready fixed wireless access (FWA) and Wi-Fi 7 offering.
Qualcomm’s New Auto Platform, Partnership with AWS & Expanded Reach into Auto OEMs
Qualcomm made a number of announcements at this week’s IAA Mobility Event in Munich. Let’s look at what the company said. News: AWS Cloud Innovation Partnership Qualcomm and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a strategic partnership to advance innovation in the automotive industry. Recognizing the growing significance of software-defined features, the explosion of data analytics, […]
Qualcomm Grows Automotive Business With Cadillac Win
This month, the momentum continues as Cadillac announces it’s putting Snapdragon Digital Chassis technology into its upcoming 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ, Cadillac’s first all-electric full-size SUV. The design win includes more than just Snapdragon Digital Cockpit. The new vehicle will consist of Snapdragon Auto Connectivity and Snapdragon Ride.