Qualcomm has declared its intention to launch a software company centred on its supply chain semicon
On Tuesday, Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM.O) said that it would be offering a subscription cloud software solution to assist businesses that use its processors in maintaining visibility over their products as they travel through the supply chain.
The firm headquartered in San Diego, California is the leading supplier of chips that enable mobile devices, such as smartphones, to connect to mobile data networks.
But, Qualcomm has used its expertise in wireless communication to penetrate other areas, including as autos and factories, where equipment need to be able to communicate with the internet.
The new service, which has been given the name Qualcomm Aware, collaborates with Qualcomm chips that are installed in tracking devices for shipping containers, pallets, packages, and other components of supply chains in order to assist businesses in determining the location of their goods and materials.
The vast majority of these trackers are manufactured by other companies; however, Qualcomm does manufacture a few devices on its own, such as a tilt sensor that can be mounted to utility poles to determine whether or not they have fallen over as a result of storms.
In an interview with Reuters, Jeff Torrance, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm's smart connected systems division, said that the company has already delivered hundreds of millions of the chips in question, which, on average, can be purchased for less than ten dollars apiece.
The software service that was unveiled on Tuesday has the goal of allowing Qualcomm clients to programme their processors from a single location, with updates being sent to the chips over the air.
Also, the service intends to make greater use of the information obtained from the chips.
Torrance stated that Qualcomm's software would've been able to link to other cloud-based services, like the Dynamics 365 programmed offered by Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.O), which is utilised by businesses in order to keep track of their inventories and supplies. Torrance also stated that the software would be able to link to other cloud-based services in the near future.
The two different technologies might be used by businesses to construct things such as virtual dashboards that display exactly where all of a company's inventory is located at any one time.
Qualcomm has not made any public announcements on the cost of the new service; but, it does reflect an effort on the company's part to earn more money off of the sale of its chips by first charging for cloud-based services that use the chip after the chip has been sold.
