ualcomm CEO Confirms Readiness for ‘Breakup’ with Apple

June 5, 2025 – As the longstanding partnership between Apple and Qualcomm edges closer to its conclusion, Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s CEO, has asserted in an interview with Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast that his company is no longer hinging its future growth on Apple’s business. Instead, Amon aims to reassure investors about Qualcomm’s strategic autonomy and long-term vision.

Despite the widespread attention surrounding Qualcomm’s contractual ties with Apple, Amon emphasized that the company is well-prepared for a scenario where Apple fully transitions to in-house modems in the coming years. “That’s the nature of our contract. If there’s no renewal, it’s fine,” Amon remarked, dismissing the dramatic narratives and speculative associations surrounding the partnership as “unfounded.”

For years, Qualcomm has been Apple’s primary modem supplier, reaping substantial annual revenues ranging from 5.7billionto5.9 billion from this collaboration. However, with the current licensing agreement set to expire in 2027, Qualcomm anticipates a gradual decline in its presence within Apple’s product lineup. This fall, it is projected that 70% of iPhones will still utilize Qualcomm modems, but that figure is expected to drop to 20% next year, with a complete exit from Apple’s supply chain anticipated by 2027.

Amon stressed that Qualcomm’s business planning already assumes Apple’s full adoption of in-house modems, with future growth hinging more on Android and emerging markets. “The excitement at this company stems from all the growth we’re generating… including growth in the Android ecosystem,” he stated.

Beyond smartphones, Qualcomm is intensifying its investments in automotive, IoT, and data center sectors. Although previous attempts to penetrate the AI server chip market yielded limited success, the company is now redoubling its efforts, leveraging AI technology to propel its server chip business and serve as a complementary force to NVIDIA’s dominant GPU market.

Despite facing stiff competition from rivals like AMD, Intel, and ARM in similar domains, Amon remains optimistic about the vast potential market size (TAM) and its sustained high growth trajectory over the next few decades. “This is a massive market that will continue to grow at an extremely high rate for decades to come,” Amon asserted. “If we can create unique and disruptive products, Qualcomm will have ample room to establish itself within this space.”

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