The American multinational semiconductor manufacturer and telecommunications company Qualcomm has just entered a $12 billion deal with such major Chinese major manufacturers like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. Qualcomm is one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers. The deal was signed while the US president Donald Trump is on a tour of China. The deal was signed by Qualcomm Technologies, which is a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated.
Qualcomm has entered into three non-binding memoranda of understanding or MoU with the three Chinese manufacturing majors. Once these MoUs have been executed, Qualcomm will manufacture chipsets for the three giants, including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. Qualcomm will soon provide chipsets for Windows PCs as well.
The deal was signed at the Great Hall of The People in Beijing, China. In attendance were Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and POTUS Donald Trump.Incidentally, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf himself was a part of the delegation led by President Trump’s Department of Commerce Trade Delegation which went to China. Also in attendance were the representatives of the three Chinese companies including Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, as well as OPPO CEO Chen Mingyong. The Vivo CEO Shen Wei also attended the signing.
Qualcomm has been in the Chinese ecosystem for the last 25 years and has successfully managed to stay in the competition. A statement by Qualcomm CEO Mollenkopf said,”Qualcomm has longstanding relationships with Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo and we are continuing our commitment to investing and helping advance China’s mobile and semiconductor industries.” He was quoted by GizBot.
The $12 bn deal will help the company establish its footprint in the Asian economy as well. Currently, it boasts of branches, joint ventures as well as R&D centers in such economic hotspots in China like Guizhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.
Only time will tell if Qualcomm benefits from the deal. At this moment, it appears as if China and the US are entering a new era of interoperability under the leadership of Trump and Jinping.