Qualcomm CEO transition: Cristiano Amon to replace Steve Mollenkopf

Qualcomm is changing its leadership. CEO Steve Mollenkopf will retire this summer, the wireless chip maker said on Tuesday, and President Cristiano Amon will take over on June 30. Mollenkopf, 52, who has been with Qualcomm for 26 years and has served as CEO since 2014, will “continue to work for the company as a strategic consultant for a period of time.”

Amon, a 50-year-old Brazilian, has been with Qualcomm since 1995, first working as an engineer. He has been president of the company since 2018 and oversees the company’s 5G strategy and its expansion of putting chips in cars and IoT devices. At the same time, Amon oversaw Qualcomm’s efforts to expand its portfolio to provide more parts needed to connect a phone to a cellular network, something that has increased revenue for each project.

“I am honored to be named the next Qualcomm CEO and I appreciate the trust that Steve and the board have in me,” said Amon in a statement. “The need for our solutions has never been more pronounced and our leadership position has never been more evident.”

Although Qualcomm is not a household name, it is likely that everyone has something with the company’s technology. The San Diego company invented the essential technology for connecting phones to cellular networks, helping it to become the world’s largest mobile chip maker. Today it is seen as a leader in 5G technology, something that Amon has advocated. Its processors are used in phones from Apple, Samsung and virtually all high-end device manufacturers, as well as car makers like Audi and several other companies. And Amon has been the main spokesperson for all of these initiatives.

The CEO’s news comes a month after Qualcomm presented its latest high-end processors at its annual Tech Summit, which was held virtually in early December. The new chip, known as Snapdragon 888 processor, must be within most high-tech Android 2021 phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S21, which will be announced next week. And Qualcomm has also expanded 5G to its low-cost Snapdragon 480 processor, as it announced earlier this week. That chip will be on phones that cost between $ 125 and $ 250.

The CEO’s transition came earlier than expected, but Amon was the natural choice for the role, analysts said.

“You cannot say 5G without saying Cristiano in the same sentence because he is relentless in talking about it and really bringing the ecosystem together,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies.

A new era

Amon’s appointment as CEO continues Qualcomm’s long history of appointing engineers as its leader. The company was co-founded in 1985 by Irwin Jacobs and other experts in wireless innovation, followed by the son of Jacob’s engineer, Paul Jacobs, in 2005 and Mollenkopf, who also started at Qualcomm as an engineer and became CEO in early 2014.

Mollenkopf oversaw Qualcomm during some of the most difficult years in the company’s history. During his tenure, the company faced antitrust battles over its position in the chip market, like as well as disputes with customers like Apple about your licensing practices. He also avoided an effort by Broadcom to acquire Qualcomm – a hostile takeover blocked by the Trump administration in 2018 – and helped to become the market leader in mobile chips. When Mollenkopf became CEO, Qualcomm faced chip rivals for 4G smartphones like Nvidia, Texas Instruments and countless others. Today, there are only a few other companies capable of making 5G chips, and Qualcomm’s antitrust and licensing battles are behind the company.

“For all these reasons, Mollenkopf’s approach was mainly not to get carried away, to bend over and focus on the product roadmap,” noted Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon. “And although controversial (and painful) at the time, looking back with the benefit of a retrospective, we have to admit that the approach was probably the right one for the long term, with the company (finally) prevailing in virtually every dispute and emerging with what is perhaps the strongest product roadmap in its history. “

In that regard, Mollenkopf in a press release praised Amon’s leadership as president of the company.

“With our business model clearly validated and our leadership in 5G, this is the right time for Cristiano to take over the leadership of the company and chair what I see as the biggest opportunity in the company’s history,” said Mollenkopf.

During Amon’s tenure, he will have to keep Qualcomm at the top in 5G, as rivals like MediaTek gain strength. The company bet on super-fast millimeter wave 5G, which has been difficult to build by rivals. The technology can reach high speeds, but it travels over short distances, and has been favored by operators like Verizon. Most other operators around the world have opted for the slower but more reliable flavor of 5G, which can be powered by chips from Qualcomm’s rivals. Qualcomm’s effort to include 5G in cheaper processors will help in its efforts to expand technology worldwide.

“Cristiano has been the face of Qualcomm, for the most part, for a long time,” said Bob O’Donnell, an analyst at Technalysis Research. The CEO transition “works perfectly with the move to 5G. Qualcomm has been very aggressive in driving this, but there is still a long way to go on the 5G side.”

At the same time, Amon will also have to continue Qualcomm’s diversification beyond smartphones. While 5G is expected to increase demand for new phones, the market is unlikely to grow as fast as before. Instead, everything from cars to traffic lights will become smarter and will require more components provided by companies like Qualcomm. The company has already moved into these areas and will likely make them an even greater focus in the years to come.

Qualcomm declined to make Amon available for an interview on Tuesday, but the new CEO told a group of business reporters that he will remain focused on 5G, artificial intelligence, IOT and other uses for Qualcomm’s chips.

In a December interview with CNET, Amon spoke about the expansion of 5G around the globe and emphasized Qualcomm’s strength in that market.

In 2019, “it was about getting 5G phones and faster speeds and making technology real,” said Amon. “In 20, it was gaining scale on phones. And in 21, you will see this speed and performance everywhere. You will have a deeper penetration of 5G in other price ranges. … And you will start to see the applications and phones start to scale. “