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Qualcomm CEO: Industry shifting from app-centric to agent-centric, smartphones as personal agent hubs
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At the 2026 Snapdragon Summit (September 22-24), Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon declared the industry is shifting from an app-centric to an agent-centric model, with smartphones serving as personal agent hubs. On the technology front, Qualcomm is extending its HBC (High Bandwidth Computing) technology from data centers to Snapdragon mobile platforms to handle massive on-device token processing, balancing performance, heat dissipation, and all-day battery life. This technology will later cover phones, PCs, XR, and automotive, with more details at MWC. In personnel moves, former Motorola CEO Sergio Buniac joined Qualcomm as EVP to lead mobile, computing, and XR business groups. Qualcomm also acquired Modular, open-sourced Mojo, and launched the MAX cross-platform AI development tool to build an open unified AI software ecosystem. In partnerships, Qualcomm deepened collaboration with Google to deploy the Gemini Intelligence layer for continuous ambient intelligence across phones, PCs, glasses, and cars, and partnered with Mastercard to build an agent commerce trust layer addressing privacy and security for AI-mediated transactions. The summit saw the launch of the second-generation Snapdragon Audio Platform至尊版 for earbuds, audio glasses, and camera-equipped audio wearables, featuring up to 2x on-device AI improvement, 40% lower power consumption, 30% smaller platform size, integrated ultra-low-power Wi-Fi 6E, fifth-generation adaptive ANC, and XPAN extended personal area network, enabling real-time translation, context-aware assistance, and audio-visual multimodal interaction. Cleer demonstrated a concept prototype based on the platform. Qualcomm stated that agent experiences will span phones, PCs, wearables, XR, and automotive, leveraging hybrid AI for cloud-edge collaboration, with Snapdragon driving large-scale deployment of AI smartphones and personal AI terminals.
Source report
September 22–24 — At the 2026 Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon outlined a major shift in the industry landscape: from app-centric to agent-centric experiences. He emphasized that smartphones will not be replaced but will serve as the central hub for personal AI agents, with apps and agent-based experiences coexisting in parallel.
Technology Advancements
Qualcomm is extending its HBC (High Bandwidth Computing) architecture — previously used in data centers — to the Snapdragon mobile platform. This move addresses the growing demand for on-device token processing, balancing performance, thermal management, and all-day battery life. The technology will later expand to smartphones, PCs, XR devices, and automotive platforms, with further details to be announced at MWC.
Leadership and Ecosystem Developments
- New Appointment: Sergio Buniac, former CEO of Motorola's mobile business, has joined Qualcomm as Executive Vice President of Qualcomm Technologies, leading the Handset, Compute, and XR business units.
- Acquisitions and Open Source: Qualcomm has acquired Modular and open-sourced Mojo. It also launched MAX, a cross-platform AI development tool, aiming to build an open and unified AI software ecosystem.
Ecosystem Partnerships
- Google Collaboration: Qualcomm and Google are deepening their partnership to deploy the Gemini Intelligence layer, enabling continuous ambient intelligence across smartphones, PCs, glasses, and automotive platforms.
- Mastercard Collaboration: Qualcomm is working with Mastercard to build a trust layer for agent-based commerce, addressing privacy and security challenges when AI agents conduct transactions on behalf of users.
New Product Launch: Second-Generation Snapdragon Audio Platform Premium Edition
During the summit, Qualcomm officially introduced the Second-Generation Snapdragon Audio Platform Premium Edition, designed for earbuds, audio glasses, and camera-equipped audio wearables.
Key improvements over the previous generation include:
- Up to 2x on-device AI performance
- Up to 40% lower power consumption
- Up to 30% smaller platform size
- Integrated ultra-low-power Wi-Fi 6E
- Support for 5th-generation Adaptive ANC (Active Noise Cancellation)
- XPAN (Expanded Personal Area Network)
- Capabilities: real-time translation, context-aware assistance, and audio-visual multimodal interaction
Cleer showcased a concept prototype based on this platform at the event.
Vision for the Future
Qualcomm stated that agent-based experiences will span across smartphones, PCs, wearables, XR, and automotive categories. Leveraging hybrid AI for cloud-device collaboration, Snapdragon is positioned to drive the规模化 deployment of AI smartphones and a wide range of personal AI terminals.
Source
DoNewsNeutral / independent