Qualcomm Adopts Regional Approach to Offer Cost-Effective Solutions for India

Global technology giant Qualcomm, which is a revered name in the smartphone-chip industry, is now envisioning strong growth from the automotive sector as it transitions towards smarter and software-defined vehicles (SDVs) that come equipped with a range of connectivity, telematics, and infotainment functions.

The company says it is geared to make notable inroads in the global automotive ecosystem with its portfolio of processors that enable cockpit experiences, V2X connectivity, ADAS, and software upgrades, among others, in modern-day cars, and two-wheelers.

For the India market specifically, Qualcomm is adopting a regional approach and modifying its global platforms to suit the needs of the local market and offering cost-effective solutions.

Speaking to Autocar Professional, Savi Soin, President, Qualcomm India, said, “We realise that India is a very cost-conscious market, and therefore, we have been strategically pushing for the ‘Snapdragon-for-India’ approach over the last two years.”

“While Indian consumers want the premium experience, they are willing to pay only a certain price for it. Therefore, all OEMs are pushing us to do more localisation in India, and since we are a fab-less company, we will work with all fabs which are currently under approvals to come on stream in the country,” he added.

Qualcomm India says it is committed to evaluate local semiconductor fabs to get its chips manufactured for the India market. “We will be getting more manufacturing in India, and a lot of progress has been made in this regard in the last two years,” Soin pointed out.

Soin particularly highlighted the company's scalable ‘Flex’ platform which caters from entry-level, all the way to high-end vehicles. “We are working on our Flex platform wherein we are developing the India version of the stack; we are working closely with an Indian OEM and are hoping to launch this product very soon.”

Eyeing the premiumisation trend

According to Soin, the Indian passenger vehicle market is undergoing an accelerated transition towards more premium features such as touchscreen displays, voice commands, and ADAS, and this is a big opportunity for the company.

“The premiumisation trend in the Indian market is driving demand for convenience features such as in-car infotainment displays for which customers are willing to pay more,” said Soin.

“Therefore, OEMs are looking for a platform approach which allows them to scale their solution across multiple product lines,” he explained, while adding that even in the lower-end category, OEMs are looking to bring more capabilities in vehicles with scalable chip architectures.

With a predominant chunk of its global R&D workforce of over 4,000 engineers stationed in India, Qualcomm is confident of undertaking a significant amount of localisation to suit the needs of the market.

“Given the scale of our partnerships with OEMs in India, that gives the benefit of economies of scale for all our customers. We are re-engineering products for the Indian market,” Soin pointed out.