Qualcomm announced a partnership with satellite communications company Iridium during CES 2023 earlier this year to combine its own Snapdragon X70 connectivity chipset to provideSnapdragon Satellite, a satellite-based emergency call solution, but the two sides will apparently terminate their cooperation in less than a year.
According to IridiumPublication StatementThe partnership with Qualcomm will end on December 12, after which it will be able to cooperate with other chip, operating system or equipment manufacturers to bring satellite communication services to more application areas.
Iridium further explained that its collaboration with Qualcomm had successfully demonstrated how to integrate mobile phones with satellite connectivity services, but ultimately failed to attract mobile phone manufacturers to actually use the collaborative technology in commercially available products, which was apparently the reason why Qualcomm decided to terminate the cooperation between the two parties.
However, Iridium remains optimistic about the future development of mobile phone applications integrating satellite connectivity services, and emphasized that it will not be disappointed by the end of its cooperation with Qualcomm. It also believes that with Apple promoting the application trend of mobile phone applications integrating satellite connectivity services, it will be able to become a key player in market development through its own satellite network services. At the same time, it also claims to be able to provide sufficient satellite signal connection services for the global market.
Qualcomm is actively developing satellite connectivity applications and services and preparing for the upcoming development of 6G mobile networks. Other industry players, including Apple, Samsung, and MediaTek, are also investing in the development of satellite connectivity services and applications.
