Alphawave acquisition is “complementary” to Qualcomm’s CPUs and NPUs, CEO says
Qualcomm is taking purpose on the knowledge middle chip area, looking for to bolster its belongings with the acquisition of knowledge middle chip specialist Alphawave Semi in a transaction that values the latter firm at $2.4 billion.
It was just some weeks in the past that Qualcomm moved to re-enter the customized CPU market for knowledge facilities, with the announcement that it would construct customized CPUs that tie in with Nvidia’s options. Qualcomm additionally struck a deal to develop knowledge middle and chip infrastructure with Saudi synthetic intelligence agency Humain, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund.
“We’re increasing into the info middle,” Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, stated within the last jiffy of his keynote presentation on the current Computex convention, with a single slide on the subject which known as that enlargement “the following step in our diversification.” He in contrast Qualcomm’s transfer into that market to its transfer into the established PC market. “If we had one thing distinctive and disruptive, there’s room for Qualcomm,” he stated. “And I feel that’s precisely the strategy we’re taking for the info middle.”
He stated that the corporate has “some very attention-grabbing IP” within the CPU area, which he stated turns into more and more essential together with clusters for inference which have very excessive efficiency however low energy. “Keep tuned, we’re busy. We’re engaged on this,” he informed the Computex crowd. (Watch that keynote in full right here.)
Now comes the Alphawave Semi announcement, which additional alerts Qualcomm’s ambitions within the knowledge middle chip market. The corporate had earlier forays into the area, together with the launch of its Centriq processors again in 2017. In 2021, Qualcomm purchased silicon startup Nuvia for its CPU tech, framing that acquisition as “redefining computing” within the 5G period. Nevertheless, Nuvia’s use of Arm-based knowledge middle CPUs led to an prolonged authorized conflict with Arm over licensing.
Qualcomm stated that Alphawave Semi’s product portfolio will complement its personal buyer Oryon CPUs and Hexagon Neural Processing Unit (NPU) processors. These processors, the corporate stated in an announcement, “are properly positioned to satisfy the rising demand for high-performance, low-power computing, which is being pushed by a speedy enhance in AI inferencing and the transition to customized CPUs in knowledge facilities.”
“Qualcomm’s acquisition of Alphawave Semi represents a big milestone for us and a possibility for our enterprise to hitch forces with a revered trade chief and drive worth to our prospects,” stated Tony Pialis, president and CEO of Alphawave Semi. “By combining our sources and experience, we will likely be well-positioned to increase our product choices, attain a broader buyer base, and improve our technological capabilities. Collectively, we are going to unlock new alternatives for progress, drive innovation, and create a number one participant in AI compute and connectivity options.”
Alphawave Semi’s merchandise are important infrastructure for makes use of from knowledge facilities and knowledge networking to knowledge storage, Qualcomm stated.
“Beneath Tony’s management Alphawave Semi has developed main high-speed wired connectivity and compute applied sciences which might be complementary to our power-efficient CPU and NPU cores,” stated Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm. “Qualcomm’s superior customized processors are a pure match for knowledge middle workloads. The mixed groups share the aim of constructing superior know-how options and enabling next-level related computing efficiency throughout a wide selection of excessive progress areas, together with knowledge middle infrastructure.”
SemiAnalysis Analyst Sravan Kundojalla stated in messages with RCR Wi-fi Information that Qualcomm’s earlier efforts within the knowledge middle CPU market have been placed on maintain for a number of years as a result of the corporate’s administration needed to concentrate on coping with a number of points in its core enterprise and defending its positions within the automotive and IoT markets.
“Qualcomm re-entered the server CPU market this yr to capitalize on AI frenzy,” Kundojalla stated. “As of at present, Qualcomm’s DC income is close to zero. It is going to be the case for the following 2-3 years because it has to construct the software program stack, trade ecosystem and construct a coherent AI technique utilizing server CPU, AI inference and Alphawave’s networking IP.”
Kundojalla additionally famous that Alphawave works intently with Arm and is a licensee of Arm’s IP. (Reuters has reported that as lately as this spring, Arm sought to accumulate Alphawave Semi for itself.) That relationship between Alphawave and Arm, he stated, might arrange a licensing pricing battle just like the one kicked off with Qualcomm purchased Nuvia.
Qualcomm expects the acquisition of Alphawave Semi to shut in the course of the first quarter of 2026.
