Qualcomm to Offer Compliant AI Chips in China
According to Qualcomm, the company officially launched its new data center chip portfolio on June 24, marking its entry into the rapidly expanding AI processor market and positioning itself as a challenger to NVIDIA’s dominance in AI infrastructure.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon revealed that the company is actively targeting the Chinese market with customized data center chips designed to comply with U.S. export control regulations. The strategy reflects Qualcomm’s broader effort to diversify beyond its traditional mobile business and expand into AI-driven data center computing.
As AI data centers increasingly rely on GPU and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) architectures, Qualcomm is pursuing an alternative approach through its newly introduced Dragonwing brand, which was first unveiled at Computex in Taipei earlier this month. The initiative is aimed at delivering a comprehensive AI infrastructure platform and strengthening Qualcomm’s position in the next generation of data center technologies.
During its Investor Day event in New York, Qualcomm outlined the Dragonwing portfolio, which includes four key product categories: AI accelerators, data center CPUs, custom silicon solutions, and connectivity chips. Together, these technologies are designed to support a wide range of AI workloads and cloud-scale computing applications.
Amon stated that Qualcomm intends to bring all four product lines to China, including customized AI accelerators specifically engineered to meet current U.S. export restrictions. He emphasized that China remains a strategically important market for Qualcomm and that the company’s long-standing relationships with Chinese smartphone manufacturers and automotive companies provide a strong foundation for expanding into the data center sector.
At the same time, Amon noted that Qualcomm remains committed to complying with all applicable export regulations. The company plans to offer compliant versions of its products for international markets while continuing discussions with customers regarding future deployments.
Reports indicate that Qualcomm recently reached an agreement with ByteDance to provide customized AI data center chips designed to satisfy existing U.S. export control requirements. The partnership highlights Qualcomm’s efforts to address growing AI infrastructure demand in China while remaining within regulatory boundaries.
China accounted for approximately 46% of Qualcomm’s revenue in 2025, primarily driven by its mobile chipset business. However, Amon believes the country has become a global center for AI agent innovation, with new applications emerging across smartphones, AI-powered smart glasses, connected vehicles, and enterprise AI platforms.
Looking ahead, Qualcomm expects its revenue mix to become increasingly diversified. By fiscal year 2029, the company projects that mobile-related business will represent roughly one-third of total revenue, while its data center segment could grow to a scale comparable to its smartphone chip business, underscoring the strategic importance of AI infrastructure in Qualcomm’s long-term growth plans.
