Neither Salvatori nor Bonnefont provided any financial details of the agreement, including whether the companies would share revenues from upgrades or services.
Qualcomm, based in San Diego, California, provides its technology to dozens of automakers, and has major collaborations with BMW, Hyundai Group, Volvo Cars, Renault and Honda, among others.
Bonnefont said working with Qualcomm would help stabilize the supply of semiconductors, which have been a major sourcing headache for automakers in the past 18 months.
“This is a way to reinforce our supply chain at a time when semiconductor supply is difficult,” he said. “We will enjoy a very specific service from Qualcomm to support us in our sourcing.”
For Qualcomm’s part, the collaboration with Stellantis is part of a push to work directly with automakers rather than through Tier 1 suppliers, Salvatori said. “Tier 1s still have a role to play, but now there is a direct channel established with the automakers,” he said.
Qualcomm’s platforms are open and scalable, he said, with the hardware and basic software available to automakers, who can add value with their own software, Salvatori said.
“This enables automakers to focus their energy and R&D money on a software ecosystem that is creating the differentiation,” he said.
Source: https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/stellantis-and-qualcomm-team-digital-tech