Qualcomm is betting big on data centers as smartphone sales sink

Qualcomm expects data center chips will eventually account for 30% of its business.

Qualcomm expects data center chips will eventually account for 30% of its business.

by Terrence O'Brien

Nov 4, 2026, 10:42 PM UTC

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Terrence O'Brien

is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.

With smartphone sales tanking by around 20 percent compared to 2025, Qualcomm is looking to data centers to help boost its bottom line. During its Q4 2026 earnings call, the company laid out its plans to make a splash in the AI data center business, through partnerships with companies like Amazon and Meta announced earlier this year. The company expects that portion of its business to grow quickly, forecasting around $650 million in data center revenue during the first quarter of 2027. But it anticipates that will reach $5 billion by the end of 2027 and $15 billion by 2029.

Considering the company’s total revenue for 2026 was $10.4 billion, that would constitute a significant share of its earnings. It confirmed during the call that it expects data centers to eventually account for around 30 percent of its business.

That’s not quite as ambitious as AMD, which says that it expects over 80 percent of its revenue will eventually come from data centers. But it suggests there’s plenty of demand that needs to be filled and enough AI money to go around.

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.

• Terrence O'Brien