Tata Group Likely To Locally Package Qualcomm's New PC Chip In India: Report

Qualcomm's chief financial officer, Akash Palkhiwala, has announced that the company is collaborating with the Indian government and Tata Group to investigate the possibility of locally packaging their new PC chip in the near future.

As the global leader in smartphone chip production, Qualcomm is actively seeking partnerships to expand its operations in India.

In an interview with the Economic Times, Palkhiwala revealed that a number of top engineers from the US chipmaker's India team played a significant role in the development of the new Snapdragon X Elite computing processor for next-generation AI PCs.

According to Palkhiwala, Qualcomm has been collaborating with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Tata Group to explore the possibility of utilizing Indian manufacturing facilities for their chips.

However, due to the requirement of leading node manufacturing for their advanced chips, it is currently challenging to fully utilise India.

Nonetheless, Qualcomm sees potential in partnering with Tata Group for chip packaging, as it presents a clear opportunity for synergy between the two companies.

"A lot of our chips are at the leading node, and so, until we have leading node manufacturing, it’s more difficult for us to use India. But from a packaging house perspective, that’s clearly an opportunity. So, we are closely aligned with Tata Group; they’ve been our partners for a very long time… It’s a clear synergy for us," Palkhiwala was quoted as saying in the ET report.

Qualcomm's engineers in India played a significant role in the development of the Snapdragon X Elite PC chip.

The Qualcomm India team, which is an integral part of the company, has contributed to the development of all the products on their roadmap, including this chip.

"Qualcomm has a large organisation in India… It’s a very important part of the company, and the India team is involved in developing everything we have on our roadmap, and this chip was definitely a key part of that, where the India team contributed," Palkhiwala said.