According to Mr. Amon, the silver lining to the market is that “people are looking to have better phones.” That’s with more advanced features. But also with better connectivity and more capabilities, to begin with. And, as a result of that, Mr. Amon says, the mobile market may very well stay stable. Although challenges do remain in the face of inflation and ongoing economic slowdown.
What challenges do flagship smartphone markets face that Qualcomm can solve?
Now, among the advanced features that Qualcomm is presently looking to add more heavily to smartphones is AR. And, in fact, VR. With the company’s recent announcement of a new XR reference design and a new solution for handling the workload for related apps and software, the company could stand to continue growth. Smartphone sales have, overall, begun to bounce back following a 12.5-percent dip in 2020. Markets have opened back up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. And a fresh batch of 5G phones is readily available across a wider range of affordability. That helped push the market forward 6-percent in 2021. That trend is likely to continue. But the recovery hasn’t quite evened everything out just yet either. Other issues such as component and chip shortages, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical factors haven’t helped either. And new and renewed lockdowns in China related to COVID-19 could potentially disrupt matters further. The approach of adding novel technologies on the part of Qualcomm could potentially stave off some of those issues. Particularly where Qualcomm chips in the flagship market are concerned, if component supplies don’t dwindle, growth may be possible. At the very least, in terms of consumer willingness when it comes to buying new smartphones. However, it is unlikely that pre-pandemic levels of growth for smartphones will return anytime soon.
