Adani group chairman Gautam Adani’s meeting with Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano R Amon on Monday, fuelled speculation about the former trying to understand the semiconductor and artificial intelligence ecosystem and whether the group can have a role in the entire value chain.
Industry sources said that the two may also have explored whereall Qualcomm’s solutions can be utilised by the Adani Group, and if at all both the companies can come together for any kind of possible collaborations.
Qualcomm being a fabless chip maker has a significant market share in Snapdragon processors for mobile phones. Besides smartphones, the company is betting big on the smart industries space with its automotive solutions for driverless cars, connected devices solutions for industries such as energy and utilities, as well as networking solutions for private networks kind of a set-up.
On the other hand, Adani, through, Adani Data Networks last year acquired telecom licence in six circles to provide private network solutions along with enhanced cyber security in the airport, ports & logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations. The group is also looking to invest Rs 50,000 crore in creating data centre infrastructure.
“Great meeting with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon & his leaders. Inspiring to hear his vision for semiconductors, AI, mobility, edge appliances and much more across different markets,” Adani said in a post on X. “Exciting to hear about his plans and commitment to India’s potential!” Adani added.
The two companies, however, did not share any details about any kind of collaborations.
According to industry executives, the companies can look for a possible tie-up with regard to the data centres and AI chips. Qualcomm lately, has been trying to take on competitor Nvidia by pushing for running large models without using cloud.
Qualcomm has a hardware design base in Bengaluru and software design base in Hyderabad for solutions such as multimedia software and wireless modem, among other things. Apart from that, in Chennai the company works on Wi-Fi solutions, whereas in the Noida facility, the company works on voice and music solutions.
The company is also working with telecom operators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to develop a 5G smartphone priced below $99 (around Rs 8,000). The phone is likely to be launched by the end of the current calendar year.
