QCOM ▼ -0.4% - QUALCOMM Incorporated $QCOM CEO Cristiano Amon said leading AI companies want smartphones running always-on, 100-billion-parameter AI models by 2028—more than triple the 30 billion supported by Qualcomm's newest chips. * On-device AI: Qualcomm is developing memory-efficient technology that loads model parameters from flash storage, enabling larger AI models to run locally. The goal is autonomous agents that understand personal context and act on users' behalf. * Smartphone demand: Amon said memory prices have risen 5–6x, reducing smartphone shipments roughly 20% this year, primarily in lower-priced devices. Premium demand remains resilient. * Smart glasses: Amon sees glasses as the leading AI wearable, with mass adoption requiring roughly 35-gram designs, 6–10 hours of battery life and fashionable styling. * Data centers: Qualcomm is targeting energy-efficient AI inference. Its Modular acquisition aims to build an open, hardware-independent software platform that challenges Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem. * Business strategy: Amon said AI productivity is helping Qualcomm expand into data centers, PCs and automotive markets while keeping operating expenses roughly flat. 10-OCT-2026 03:22 PM ET