back to indexCristiano Amon: Qualcomm CEO | Lex Fridman Podcast #280
link |
Talking about an exciting thing for an engineer,
link |
the same Snapdragon that goes to a phone
link |
and it can go to a Galaxy phone, for example, Samsung,
link |
the same, not a special one, went all the way to Mars.
link |
You expect to have a full day of battery life,
link |
but then you want it to not be sending data
link |
into 10 or 100 megabits.
link |
You want gigabits.
link |
You want it to be able to have eight core processors.
link |
You want to have a GPU with ray tracing.
link |
You want to have all of those things
link |
that you can only get into sometimes a desktop PC.
link |
To do all of that in your phone is an incredible thing.
link |
Some people raise concerns about there not being enough
link |
studies about the effects of 5G on the human body.
link |
The following is a conversation with Cristiano Aman,
link |
the CEO of Qualcomm.
link |
The company that's one of the leaders in the world
link |
in the space of mobile communication and computation.
link |
That's 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G that connects billions of phones,
link |
and the Snapdragon processor and system on a chip
link |
that is the brain of most of the premium Android phones
link |
This is the Lex Friedman podcast.
link |
To support it, please check out our sponsors
link |
in the description.
link |
And now, dear friends, here's Cristiano Aman.
link |
You are originally from Brazil,
link |
so let me ask the most important question,
link |
the most profound question, the biggest question.
link |
Who's the greatest football soccer player of all time?
link |
Look, everybody's gonna say Pele,
link |
and actually I was born during the game
link |
of Brazil and Italy that Pele gave Brazil the championship.
link |
Actually it was, my dad tells me that the doctor
link |
had a TV on at the delivery room.
link |
But, so everybody will say Pele,
link |
but I really like Ronaldo.
link |
The first, not Ronaldinho, the first Ronaldo.
link |
I really like him.
link |
That's my favorite player.
link |
By the way, not everybody would say Pele.
link |
But we shall leave that on the table
link |
and agree to disagree.
link |
Brazilians will say Pele.
link |
There's other countries around that region
link |
that may disagree a little bit.
link |
Qualcomm is largely responsible for 5G
link |
and some of the greatest processors
link |
in our smartphones ever built.
link |
So we got communication and computation tech
link |
that impacts probably billions of people.
link |
So if you zoom out, you as a human,
link |
we'll look at humans on Earth in general,
link |
does it blow your mind that we have these billions
link |
of smartphones communicating and each of them
link |
have the computational power?
link |
You know, you talk about 10 billion transistors.
link |
That's a million times more than 50 years ago
link |
in the best computers in the world.
link |
Like if you just zoom out as a human,
link |
does that blow your mind?
link |
Look, one of the reasons I think I love this company
link |
is we know that the technology we develop
link |
can change the world.
link |
And I'll tell you one more thing.
link |
Beyond the amount of processing power
link |
that you have now in the palm of your hands
link |
and being every one of the world is connected
link |
with broadband technology,
link |
the smartphone is also mankind largest development platform.
link |
There's nothing like it.
link |
So you respect both the hardware and the software?
link |
If aliens were observing Earth over the past 50 to 70 years,
link |
how do you think they would describe
link |
this particular turmoil, fun things going on
link |
on the surface of this particular little planet?
link |
We live in interesting times.
link |
In one time, we see incredible development of technology
link |
for mankind just what happened in the last century.
link |
You know, from 1900 to 2000, it was incredible development.
link |
Just look, 2000 was 22 years ago,
link |
how far we're coming and where we're going with technology.
link |
What do you think they would notice?
link |
So there's road networks, there's all kinds of networks.
link |
There's lights that keep popping up,
link |
cities springing up, like from an alien perspective,
link |
Well, what I'm gonna tell you is you have this contrast
link |
of incredible development of technology,
link |
but then you see some of the things
link |
that are happening right now,
link |
which is probably you would not expect them to happen
link |
on the 21st century, just what happened in Ukraine.
link |
So I think that will be a more puzzling question
link |
for the aliens, I would imagine.
link |
The new technology is kind of impressive.
link |
Actually, that might not be so puzzling
link |
because that's just human nature revealing itself
link |
as it has throughout human history.
link |
Let's talk about wireless communication.
link |
So Qualcomm was instrumental in developing 5G.
link |
Now you were with Qualcomm since the early days,
link |
the good old 90s with the 2G, but what is 5G,
link |
including sub six gigahertz 5G and millimeter wave 5G?
link |
And maybe the most important question is
link |
how will it change the world in the coming years?
link |
When we set ourselves to develop 5G,
link |
and we look at this, every generation of technology
link |
had a problem to be solved, right?
link |
So you mentioned 2G, 2G challenge,
link |
the challenge of CDMA was can we give every person
link |
on earth a cell phone?
link |
That was, can you get to a technology
link |
that you can basically allow everyone
link |
to have a mobile phone?
link |
3G was about the ability to connect that to the internet.
link |
I think 4G was broadband and with 4G was about
link |
have the ability for you to have a computer
link |
in the palm of your hand.
link |
We'll just talk about that.
link |
5G, the challenge was a little bit different.
link |
It's how do we build a technology for a society
link |
that is gonna be 100% connected to the cloud?
link |
How do we provide a technology that is going to be
link |
the last mile connectivity for everything?
link |
So 5G has basically been designed,
link |
eliminate all issues with data congestion,
link |
whether you are in stadium, we talk about soccer,
link |
you were in a stadium and everyone should be
link |
ability to have access to broadband.
link |
So deal with congestion.
link |
Deal with the fact that not only people,
link |
but billions of things need to be connected.
link |
Create a technology that for the first time in wireless,
link |
you could deliver mission critical services.
link |
Wireless used to up to 4G is its best effort.
link |
In 5G, it can guarantee that you are connected
link |
And then the last point of that is provide this fabric
link |
that will allow us as a society to look at things
link |
that are not connected and say, that's the exception.
link |
That's why we made a comparison in the early days of 5G
link |
that that's gonna be like electricity.
link |
Right now, you don't have a discussion
link |
about what is the use cases for electricity.
link |
You don't talk about that anymore.
link |
You just assume it's there.
link |
And that's how we think about everything
link |
connected to the cloud.
link |
That's what 5G is and that's the role of 5G.
link |
So first of all, everything connected to the cloud
link |
is interesting because the space of everything
link |
is constantly increasing.
link |
I don't think the refrigerator over there,
link |
it looks kind of smart,
link |
but I don't think it's connected yet to the cloud.
link |
So this includes internet of things.
link |
What is the full space of everything?
link |
The full space of everything is,
link |
it's maybe going back to where you start defining Qualcomm.
link |
Qualcomm is about communications and advanced computers
link |
for low power devices.
link |
And can we make everything smart?
link |
It can range from the robot you have right now on the floor
link |
to your refrigerator, to a camera,
link |
to machines in manufacturing,
link |
to retail, et cetera.
link |
I can give you some examples.
link |
When we think of something as simple
link |
as going to the grocery shop,
link |
we see technology now with something,
link |
the stuff we've been working with companies like Walmart.
link |
Electronic shelf labels.
link |
The ability for you to have smart cameras,
link |
they can look at shelves and the camera is smart enough
link |
to say some product needs to be replenished.
link |
Ability to see what's trashed.
link |
So it's about really providing processor connectivity,
link |
artificial intelligence to everything.
link |
And I think that's one of the largest addressable markets
link |
we have for technology
link |
because you can't really define everything.
link |
It's a nice market
link |
because it keeps growing potentially exponentially in speed.
link |
What about coverage?
link |
So how are we doing on the everything part?
link |
So there is, like I mentioned, sub six gigahertz 5G
link |
and there's a millimeter wave 5G.
link |
So not all 5G is made the same.
link |
So there's a speed, there's a bandwidth thing.
link |
And then there's coverage.
link |
How many people get to enjoy today
link |
and how does the progress in the next five, 10, 20, 30,
link |
50 years you think looks like in terms of coverage?
link |
Great topic of conversation.
link |
So let's talk about this.
link |
When I meet with regulators across the globe,
link |
I tell them resistance is futile.
link |
Allocate every spectrum to wireless.
link |
Every spectrum needs to be allocated to wireless.
link |
The reality is when we start moving from CDMA to OFDMA,
link |
we knew that this industry has done a lot
link |
to get more bits per Hertz.
link |
But the reality is the massive amount of improvements
link |
that is required in capacity and in speed,
link |
you need more spectrum.
link |
There's not so much we can rely on more bits per Hertz.
link |
You just need more spectrum.
link |
And if you look, for example,
link |
what carriers since the 2G era,
link |
they participate in different license and auctions
link |
and every spectrum they accumulated from 2G or 3G or 4G,
link |
all of that, you may be able to get one or two channels max
link |
of sub six, which is a channel is about 100 megahertz
link |
or 200 megahertz, and that's it.
link |
So we need more spectrum.
link |
So 5G has been designed to work across every spectrum
link |
from the low frequency bands, that's what we call the sub six,
link |
but you needed more, you needed to go to the millimeter wave.
link |
So that's why 5G is a technology that you can deploy
link |
from 450 megahertz as an example, or 600 or 700,
link |
all the way to in the 42 gigahertz.
link |
And that's where millimeter wave comes into the picture.
link |
Now, let's now connect this to your question
link |
about coverage of 5G.
link |
The easiest thing to do is to deploy 5G
link |
in the new spectrum you can get,
link |
which is in the sub six, you see bands being auctioned
link |
across the globe into 3.5 gigahertz.
link |
There's nothing special about the band,
link |
it's just the only one that was available
link |
because everything else has been useful for 4G.
link |
And you can deploy on that, go into existing cell towers
link |
and just put a new equipment
link |
without having to build new towers.
link |
But when we go to technologies such as millimeter wave,
link |
then you have to build more dense networks.
link |
You need to build more stations
link |
because a deployment in that case
link |
look like a wifi deployment,
link |
it's almost like wifi access points.
link |
When you need to build more stations, you need permits,
link |
you need to build fiber, so it takes more time to densify.
link |
So what you see happening is coverage has been built fast
link |
with sub six across the globe,
link |
but now the United States also have the sub six.
link |
So that gets you to coverage very fast.
link |
But millimeter wave, it's moving.
link |
And if I will say, for example, Verizon,
link |
United States has had a leadership
link |
in building millimeter wave, it takes time.
link |
I'll say cities like Chicago, Manhattan
link |
starting to get coverage.
link |
It will be a process over a number of years
link |
as you build those different access points type networks,
link |
but it's inevitable.
link |
There's not enough spectrum.
link |
So every 5G operators just a matter of time
link |
will have millimeter wave as well.
link |
Resistance is futile.
link |
Okay, so for millimeter wave,
link |
we need density of access points.
link |
And what's the biggest resistance for Qualcomm
link |
for human civilization?
link |
Is it politicians, regulators, federal regulators?
link |
Is it individual humans?
link |
Is it not enough money from the consumer perspective?
link |
Like who is the biggest pain in the butt?
link |
From a Qualcomm standpoint, but answering the question
link |
about what it takes to build all this technology.
link |
I think regulators across the board
link |
understood the importance of 5G.
link |
I have not met a regulator that said,
link |
it's really important to be late on 5G.
link |
I don't think anybody wants to be late on 5G.
link |
And as a result, we've seen enormous amount of progress
link |
in getting spectrum allocated to 5G.
link |
I think the real issue is the time that it takes
link |
to build infrastructure.
link |
You know, investment in 5G infrastructure,
link |
special millimeter wave is like building roads and ports.
link |
It's critical infrastructure.
link |
And those things take time.
link |
Like one of the number one obstacle
link |
you're gonna hear from operators is site permit.
link |
You know, sometimes they have to negotiate municipality
link |
by municipality about permits to get new cell sites.
link |
But you know, the networks will be densified
link |
and you're gonna need all of that capacity
link |
for the promise of the fully immersive augmented reality
link |
that will replace phones and everything being connected
link |
This would not be a conversation with the CEO
link |
if I did not ask questions that make you nervous.
link |
Some people raise concerns about there not being enough
link |
studies about the effects of 5G on the human body.
link |
Look, I have a very simple answer to this question.
link |
As we build new capabilities, such as 5G,
link |
power is going down, especially when you think
link |
about reducing the number of base stations,
link |
the network's becoming more dense.
link |
So as you do that, the power becomes lower.
link |
If your phone radiated from the phone and from the tower,
link |
as you get closer to the tower,
link |
you don't need that much power to reach the tower.
link |
So as we move from 4G to 5G,
link |
I think we see a reduction in the amount of power
link |
is required to close the radio link.
link |
Now, also you have a number of organizations,
link |
the FCC, for example, has rigorous programs,
link |
which they do a lot of tests to validate, you know,
link |
the safety of those devices.
link |
And I think we have, has been a model for other countries
link |
to also to adopt the same things.
link |
Cellular has been around for a number of decades now.
link |
I think smartphone is our most beloved device today.
link |
And I would argue how it's difficult
link |
to answer those questions,
link |
but I'll argue that the data to date
link |
have we seen in 3G and 4G, you know,
link |
has shown that a lot of the initial concerns
link |
We look at 5G, even though it's new, it's just less power.
link |
So we look at it from a physics standpoint.
link |
So from a physics, from a biology perspective,
link |
there's a lot of evidence, there's studies
link |
that show that it's not dangerous, that it is in fact safe.
link |
However, the concern that people have
link |
is when you scale technology exponentially,
link |
how will that change human civilization?
link |
I mean, that doesn't apply to 5G,
link |
that applies to every technology.
link |
How, you said smartphone is the most beloved device,
link |
but love sometimes hurts.
link |
That's the impact on society we don't know.
link |
And there's a little bit of fear,
link |
there's both excitement and fear.
link |
It's a great topic of conversation actually.
link |
So let me give you my perspective on this.
link |
And you started to see some things
link |
actually happening right now.
link |
So let me step back and let's talk about the fact
link |
that we are in a fully interconnected society.
link |
That when you look of the situation today,
link |
we talk about smartphones, largest development platform,
link |
so much now of our life, we are connected to the smartphone.
link |
And we are all connected and we're connected.
link |
And then we're building digital twins of everything, right?
link |
So when you look at that picture,
link |
when you look at the picture of this connected society,
link |
you started to have the following thoughts,
link |
which I think are very healthy,
link |
which means in the same way that in the physical world,
link |
you're entitled to some rights, you have obligations,
link |
and there's a lot of things that protect your integrity.
link |
I think as a rule, we're gonna see the society evolving.
link |
So those things extend to your digital being
link |
of people and things.
link |
And I think it's just natural.
link |
It's just natural.
link |
It's just a natural path.
link |
And you started to see things like that.
link |
For example, the Europeans has done a lot in this area.
link |
I'll say the Europeans probably ahead in the United States
link |
thinking about privacy laws, digital privacy laws.
link |
Most recently, the DMA, the Digital Markets Act,
link |
which I think is a great thing.
link |
I think we believe there's incredible thought
link |
into enable ability to regulate the digital markets
link |
so that there's innovation and competitions
link |
and not a single company can control all the data
link |
and then decide how things are gonna be work
link |
on the digital realm.
link |
And even if we think about the potential things
link |
like the metaverse,
link |
as we're connecting physical and digital spaces.
link |
So I think it's a natural evolution.
link |
Of course, regulation and laws always follow technology.
link |
But the fact that we're moving
link |
to an interconnected society, there's no going back.
link |
We are a fully interconnected society.
link |
But there is opportunity to think about
link |
how the digital twin should,
link |
people and government should think about it
link |
so that we get the best of a technology
link |
without any downside.
link |
Yeah, so when you say digital twin,
link |
that's one of the other things you're excited about,
link |
which is the metaverse,
link |
or basically building worlds in the digital space.
link |
And you have to start to think about
link |
all the basic human rights that transfer
link |
from our physical meat vehicles
link |
out to the digital copies of ourselves,
link |
representations of ourselves.
link |
It's really important to think about.
link |
The thing you mentioned about regulators that has been,
link |
this is me speaking frustrating,
link |
is like you said, they follow technology.
link |
So sometimes they don't get the technology at all.
link |
So they're very clumsy in writing laws
link |
that censor that technology in interesting ways.
link |
They mean good, but they can do a lot of unintended damage.
link |
Now, both, it's a dance.
link |
It's a beautiful dance,
link |
but I just wish governments were better dance partners.
link |
I just see what they're kind of writing now
link |
about regulating social media and platforms like YouTube,
link |
and it's just really, really clumsy.
link |
They don't understand how machine learning works.
link |
I recommend their systems work.
link |
And I just wish they kind of caught up a little more
link |
because it's really important to be great at regulation,
link |
but also it's important to let companies flourish
link |
and embrace this new wave of technology.
link |
That weird dance, I am more and more learning
link |
looking at public policy,
link |
how much positive government can do
link |
and how much clumsy negative it can do,
link |
unintentionally, just out of sheer incompetence
link |
or lack of curiosity about tech.
link |
That's my rant about regulators.
link |
I think it's a valid point.
link |
As I said before, I think the Europeans
link |
probably have a very good framework,
link |
but the way I'll think about it,
link |
we depend on having the ability to innovate.
link |
We depend on the free markets.
link |
We depend on the ability to create technology
link |
that will be disruptive.
link |
But at the same time, I think the tech companies
link |
probably should spend time helping governments understand,
link |
helping understand ahead of time
link |
so that they can be better prepared.
link |
Let's talk about one of my favorite topics, Snapdragon.
link |
So Snapdragon is a system on a chip.
link |
This processor has probably powered billions of smartphones
link |
over its pretty long history now,
link |
a decade and a half maybe.
link |
So it's constantly iterating.
link |
There's constantly just like a turmoil of beautiful
link |
innovations happening.
link |
So last year it was Snapdragon 888 was the main one
link |
with the five nanometer,
link |
and this year it's Snapdragon 8Gen1.
link |
It's a new naming scheme.
link |
Okay, what's the sexiest, most beautiful idea
link |
or concept to you about Snapdragon?
link |
The way I would describe it,
link |
and I think the reason we have been successful with it,
link |
is to really understand how to build a platform,
link |
a single chip, like a single chip,
link |
that will have every single capability
link |
if you wanna make this smartphone
link |
in the palm of your hand,
link |
something that has all of your computing needs.
link |
And it was the ability to get,
link |
from an engineering standpoint,
link |
ability to get into a single chip
link |
of not only all possible connectivity technology,
link |
from cellular to wifi to Bluetooth
link |
to every single constellation of satellites
link |
for position location.
link |
But at the same time,
link |
a very power efficient single thread and multi threaded CPU.
link |
A GPU for all of your graphic demands,
link |
gaming, fastest growing segment for gaming,
link |
An artificial intelligence processor,
link |
which we call the neuro processor unit.
link |
And then a video engine,
link |
and a multimedia engine for every single application,
link |
audio, everything.
link |
So it's a single chip
link |
that has every single computing technology
link |
you need in the phone.
link |
And what's exciting about it is what we already knew.
link |
For example, when you think about camera or computer vision,
link |
you see that the advancements in the technology
link |
now happens in the smartphone first
link |
versus additional camera.
link |
So the beauty about the Snapdragon is
link |
we always have this thing within Qualcomm.
link |
The phone, it's small.
link |
You have to be able to hold it.
link |
You're gonna touch your face so you cannot be hot.
link |
You have to manage thermals.
link |
You expect to have a full day of battery life.
link |
But then you want it to not be sending data
link |
into 10 or 100 megabits.
link |
You want gigabits.
link |
You want it to be able to have eight core processors.
link |
You want to have a GPU with ray tracing.
link |
You want to have all of the things
link |
that you can only get into sometimes a desktop PC.
link |
And to do all of that in your phone
link |
and be able to be in the leadership position
link |
generation after generation is an incredible thing.
link |
And we're very proud of that at Qualcomm.
link |
Yeah, so you have to do the WiFi, 5G, all of the...
link |
And you have to be good to everyone of those technologies.
link |
And pack it all in.
link |
And there's also pressure to make the thing
link |
faster and faster and faster.
link |
And then there's more and more applications
link |
you're supposed to be effortlessly using.
link |
And then you mentioned the NPU, GPU, CPU.
link |
They have to also dance together somehow.
link |
They have to communicate well, share memory or not,
link |
depending on what the application is.
link |
And your battery has to last all day.
link |
So think about that.
link |
From a company like Qualcomm, we have to be good
link |
in each and every one of those technologies.
link |
We can't just say, oh, we're a CPU company
link |
or a GPU company or we're AI company.
link |
We have to do everything.
link |
What does it take to design a great processor?
link |
So design this system on a chip that you mentioned.
link |
Is there some insight you can provide
link |
in this chaos of engineers, designers, leaders,
link |
the people that think about how much
link |
this is all gonna cost, the whole mess of it?
link |
I'm, of course, very partial about it.
link |
I've been in this company for probably more than 26 years.
link |
But I will argue that there are a couple things
link |
that are ingredients for success.
link |
So we talk about the fact that they have
link |
all those different technologies.
link |
They evolve at their own pace.
link |
And you have to be good in each one of them.
link |
And you need to then to make them working together.
link |
So you need to have an engineering organization
link |
that's with an incredible collaboration culture
link |
because everybody has to be working.
link |
The train's gonna leave the station.
link |
Every cart needs to be there when it leaves the station.
link |
It needs to leave on time,
link |
especially in the phone business.
link |
You can't change Christmas.
link |
You cannot change Black Friday.
link |
You cannot change all of the selling seasons.
link |
So the phones are gonna launch on time.
link |
And every technology needs to be there.
link |
The engineer needs to work as one.
link |
And we do have that at Qualcomm.
link |
The other thing, you have to have incredible discipline
link |
because those are very complex systems.
link |
So in one way, you have to design with quality
link |
because in many cases, we're gonna be ramping production.
link |
And even before we have the silicon back
link |
and you have to rely on our simulation models
link |
and you have to rely on the fact
link |
that you design for commercial applications.
link |
That takes a while to build.
link |
And it's probably been the history
link |
of a semiconductor business at Qualcomm.
link |
So you mean like the framework
link |
of how many people can use simulation software
link |
and all that kind of stuff to build the thing
link |
with a hard deadline that you might not even get back
link |
from like manufacturer before.
link |
You're not allowed to have any mistakes.
link |
No wonder our name is quality communications.
link |
Oh, I never even thought about the qual part.
link |
So quality and there's a bar that's high
link |
and you're not allowed to mess up.
link |
I mean, to me as an engineer, that's exciting.
link |
Hard deadlines, no room for mistakes.
link |
Super stressful, but I love it.
link |
So there's a couple of other small companies
link |
called Google and Apple.
link |
So Google is now using its own chip for the Pixel 6.
link |
Apple using its own.
link |
How does Qualcomm out compete Google and Apple?
link |
How does it beat them?
link |
We don't have to out compete Google.
link |
Actually, if you look at our mobile strategy today,
link |
and then one thing I was very clear when I became CEO,
link |
I think there's a lot of confusion in the market.
link |
Our mobile strategy is very clear.
link |
We are focused of making Snapdragon synonymous
link |
with premium Android experience.
link |
That's what Snapdragon is.
link |
Android, the phone of the people.
link |
I just have a love for Android.
link |
I'm constantly talking trash to iPhone people.
link |
Premium Android experiences.
link |
So we do produce Snapdragon in multiple tier
link |
for every price point, but every year,
link |
you mentioned the HN1,
link |
and every year we'll provide the flagship product.
link |
And then the other series that is trying to get the best
link |
of every possible technology at that time.
link |
And it's really focused on enabling the Android ecosystem.
link |
So I'll give an example.
link |
So you asked me the question, how to compete with Google.
link |
It's not about competing with Google.
link |
We're the number one enabler
link |
of the Google Android ecosystem.
link |
And the largest, the number one customer there
link |
is actually Samsung.
link |
And if you look what happened to Samsung,
link |
Samsung, I always said,
link |
since I began my relationship with them,
link |
that cause they always had their own chip.
link |
They always had their own chip.
link |
And if you'll just look at what happened right now
link |
with the Galaxy S22 that just launched,
link |
they used to balance their business about 50% Qualcomm.
link |
They will get the most advanced markets
link |
like the United States and China and Japan and Korea,
link |
they will assign to Qualcomm.
link |
And then they'll have their own chip for the markets
link |
that they would be like more emerging markets,
link |
open markets, markets that they have a control
link |
on the channel because they sell a lot of appliances
link |
If you look what happened right now, GS22,
link |
And then the next large OEMs and Android ecosystem
link |
are the Chinese ones.
link |
Companies like Xiaomi, one of the fastest growing.
link |
It was number one in Europe at some point last year,
link |
then followed by Oppo and OnePlus and Vivo.
link |
So those are some of the largest Qualcomm customers.
link |
And they actually drive the Android ecosystem.
link |
And that's our mobile strategy
link |
and fully aligned with Google and it's working.
link |
And not to get into a lot of the investor conversation,
link |
but we're also happy we became a beneficiary
link |
of the shifts that we saw in the marketplace.
link |
As Huawei became a smaller OEM
link |
as a result of the sanctions,
link |
we saw the rise of a lot of the other OEMs from China,
link |
especially for China domestic market, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo.
link |
They moved to the premium category
link |
and they're all doing that with Qualcomm.
link |
So we're actually very fortunate and happy
link |
with the position we are in mobile business.
link |
We do have an Apple relationship.
link |
We provide modem technology to Apple.
link |
It's a multi year relationship.
link |
Apple has been very public that they are investing
link |
to develop their own modem.
link |
But the Qualcomm strategy has been clear.
link |
We're really focused on Snapdragon.
link |
Our mobile strategy is not defined
link |
by providing a cellular modem to Apple.
link |
Our mobile strategy is this that we just talked about it.
link |
It's about the unique thing of Snapdragon
link |
that has every single technology
link |
integrated into a single SOC.
link |
And provides a premium experience.
link |
And that's what we're doing
link |
and focusing on the Android ecosystem.
link |
I don't know if I can ask you this kind of question.
link |
It's like picking your children or something like this.
link |
But what smartphone with a Snapdragon?
link |
You mentioned Samsung Galaxy S22, OnePlus.
link |
Those are phones I personally really enjoy.
link |
What phone do you currently use?
link |
Or do you have multiple phones?
link |
I do have multiple phones but I do use Galaxy S22.
link |
That's your favorite one?
link |
All right, well you heard it here first folks.
link |
Okay, so excellent.
link |
Can Qualcomm also, let's take a brief step away from mobile.
link |
And take on Intel and Apple and other such companies
link |
in the laptop and desktop space.
link |
So the nature of what a computer is seems to be changing.
link |
It's like smartphones like merging.
link |
It's all being a smartphone just with the biggest screen
link |
or something like this.
link |
So what does the future of that look like?
link |
Before I answer that question,
link |
let me just step back a little bit.
link |
Because, and I'm sure we can talk more about those things.
link |
But the reality is Qualcomm is changing a lot.
link |
And we use, I know we spend a lot of time
link |
talking about 5G and smartphone and Snapdragon.
link |
And I think that has been what had defined Qualcomm
link |
But the reality is, even consistent
link |
with that 5G conversation, which is a technology
link |
to connect everything, Qualcomm is also changing.
link |
Our technology that was in many cases designed for phones.
link |
And we said at the beginning, connectivity and processing.
link |
It's going to virtually every industry.
link |
And as a result, Qualcomm is really changing with it
link |
and expanding to a number of different addressable markets.
link |
Some of those markets is the PC, as you talk about it.
link |
The conversions of mobile and PC.
link |
And the reason I'm excited about this,
link |
because you see a lot of things happening
link |
that bring this right front and center
link |
when you think about the future technology.
link |
So what we learn with the pandemic
link |
is that the number one use case of personal computers
link |
is communications.
link |
It is interesting when you think about that.
link |
That's the number one use case on a PC today
link |
is communications.
link |
It's actually funny because in the cellular industry,
link |
actually I'll say, let me step back.
link |
In the telecom industry, we've been chasing
link |
this killer application of video telephony for decades.
link |
I remember back then in the wire line,
link |
even before the internet and IP, ISDN,
link |
you remember those AT&T desk phones with a little screen
link |
and they said, you can do video telephony.
link |
We don't watch that in Back to the Future 2.
link |
Then when we started developing 3G,
link |
people said, what's the application for having data
link |
All video telephony.
link |
Then we started doing 4G.
link |
And in the beginning, people said,
link |
well, why do you need all of this broadband?
link |
All video telephony.
link |
But it took a pandemic to make video telephony
link |
the killer application.
link |
And that's now the number one use case on a PC.
link |
So now think about that for a second.
link |
Personal computers now, they're technologies
link |
that people when they were gonna buy a PC,
link |
they didn't care much about it.
link |
Now they do, camera.
link |
Camera, how good is the camera?
link |
The audio, is that connected?
link |
How good is the connectivity?
link |
Do you have the latest and greatest wifi and cellular?
link |
What's the battery life?
link |
Because you're gonna be working from anywhere.
link |
Sometimes you know that, sometimes you're not.
link |
So all those things, what's the portability like?
link |
So those things started to change
link |
how we should think about the PC.
link |
But I won't stop there.
link |
Let me talk about another trend.
link |
So, and all come as a result of what we saw the pandemic.
link |
Let's say that you are,
link |
you're an engineer, you do computer aided design.
link |
You have an advanced desktop computer
link |
or workstation in your office.
link |
But you wanna work from home someday.
link |
So you're not gonna move that to your home.
link |
So what do you need to do?
link |
You're gonna have to rely on that.
link |
You're gonna run that on the cloud.
link |
And you're gonna run it on the cloud.
link |
You need high bandwidth
link |
because you almost wanted the cloud
link |
to be the same as your computer for that use case.
link |
That's the 5G on demand computing use case.
link |
The use 5G is almost a link between two computers.
link |
But then, you know, CIOs are saying,
link |
well, my workforce is going home for certain days.
link |
I want all the data to be in the cloud.
link |
You look at, for example, Microsoft OneDrive
link |
or the ability to collaborate, you need the bandwidth.
link |
So when you put all of those things together,
link |
you start thinking about what is the next generation PC?
link |
And that's the opportunity for Qualcomm.
link |
I'll just give an example.
link |
Back in Mobile World Congress recently, Lenovo,
link |
they have a line of enterprise laptops called the ThinkPad.
link |
I'm sure you're familiar with it.
link |
So they announced the ThinkPad based on Snapdragon.
link |
With 5G on, 28 hours of battery life.
link |
So that's next generation.
link |
It's just a nice screen with extremely high, nice screen
link |
and keyboard, and extremely high connectivity
link |
to maybe an even more, like a more powerful machine
link |
Something more, the data, connecting to the data,
link |
connecting to compute, all that kind of stuff.
link |
You have the camera capabilities,
link |
and let me go one step more.
link |
Microsoft talking about some of the other features
link |
they're doing now using, on Windows 11, using Snapdragon.
link |
Remember, we talk about it,
link |
Snapdragon has an AI processor inside there.
link |
So one of the cool features Microsoft's talking about it is
link |
you can be on a Teams call, and you can make sure
link |
your eyes are looking at the camera 100% of the time.
link |
Well, that's an interesting,
link |
so they can be talking about that.
link |
And you do that with AI.
link |
Yes, that's really tricky to pull off.
link |
For example, the reason I'm a huge stickler
link |
for doing these in person, these conversations in person,
link |
it's really tough to get right.
link |
But it's a worthy challenge.
link |
So that's where the metaverse hopes to,
link |
so like, I just, because you said the importance
link |
of this telephony of humans connecting,
link |
teleporting themselves, getting that right
link |
is really difficult.
link |
There's a lot of people hate Zoom meetings,
link |
but that doesn't mean you can't improve that experience
link |
and get rid of the hate.
link |
A lot of people hate talking to their car too,
link |
because the voice, the natural language processing
link |
is terrible, but when it's not, it's a beautiful thing.
link |
So getting that right is.
link |
This is an opportunity, this is an opportunity.
link |
Think about it, it starts with the PC,
link |
making the PC giving you a better experience for teams,
link |
but then it goes right back into this trend
link |
of connecting physical and digital spaces.
link |
And all the work we're doing with the metaverse
link |
and virtual reality and metareality in the future
link |
is why not call somebody or connect with somebody
link |
with a hologram, it's possible.
link |
And also to mention some increasing amount
link |
of intelligence in our cars.
link |
So semi autonomous, autonomous cars,
link |
and the interactivity between human and car,
link |
which for me, things are really exciting.
link |
Let me ask you a big question.
link |
So when aliens again now on the other side, right,
link |
and humans destroy themselves through nuclear war
link |
centuries from now.
link |
But in case, you know, let's just hypothetical
link |
thought experiment.
link |
And they write a history of humanity in the 21st century.
link |
What would they remember Qualcomm in the 21st century
link |
Would it be a car company?
link |
Like think of all the crazy pivots that might happen
link |
in the next like 50 years.
link |
Because you're thinking, you said Qualcomm enables
link |
all of these things with 5G and there'll be probably
link |
other Gs, it keeps increasing.
link |
So basically connectivity and computation
link |
and everything becomes connected and everything
link |
is capable of computation.
link |
Might you become a robotics and car company?
link |
I will argue we're already an automotive company today.
link |
But let me tell you what I would like Qualcomm to be,
link |
remember and recognize for.
link |
I think everyone that knows Qualcomm immediately,
link |
you know, connect us, pun intended,
link |
to connectivity and wireless.
link |
But the reality is we're being actually the company
link |
providing intelligence and processing to everything
link |
on the edge, everything outside the data center
link |
Those billions of devices that are gonna be connected.
link |
And that's kind of explained when we talk about
link |
the connected intelligent edge, the beyond phones,
link |
cars, species, and all of those.
link |
And the broader IOTs, we talk about everything
link |
will be connected and intelligent.
link |
And that's what we want Qualcomm to be recognized for.
link |
So by the way, for people who are not familiar,
link |
there's some technical jargon.
link |
People use the word edge, like edge computing.
link |
It's, by the way, that's probably changing
link |
what that even means.
link |
But it's basically everything that's not a giant thing
link |
that's making a lot of noise in a building somewhere.
link |
So it's mobile devices and the mobile devices
link |
of all kinds, well, a refrigerator's not mobile,
link |
but it would be edge.
link |
So it's like what's a sandwich, that kind of discussion.
link |
But basically edge computing is the edge
link |
of that expanding space that you mentioned
link |
that Qualcomm is trying to connect
link |
and enable with computation.
link |
Here's a simple way to describe what the edge is
link |
and edge computing is.
link |
I think as we think about the evolution of the data center,
link |
you need to bring the computational closer
link |
to where the device is.
link |
Also, when you put the computation together
link |
with the connectivity at the same time,
link |
you're gonna see a lot of advancement
link |
of artificial intelligence happening closer
link |
Look, it's a very, I have a simple way to describe it.
link |
Remember in the beginning of this conversation,
link |
we talk about in the 4G era, broadband
link |
and mobile computing evolved side by side.
link |
If you're gonna have broadband,
link |
you might as well have a computer in the palm of your hand.
link |
So we needed to invest in those two technologies.
link |
In 5G, AI develops side by side.
link |
You're connected to the cloud 100% of the time.
link |
You have a high bandwidth and you have now
link |
a smart and intelligent thing that can make decision
link |
in real time, provide context information to the cloud
link |
to make the models more accurate
link |
and as well compare and contrast to the cloud.
link |
So there's gonna be an exponential development of AI
link |
happening with all the edge devices,
link |
the devices that are outside the data center
link |
and computation is gonna go alongside that.
link |
And a great example of that is the car.
link |
The car, we haven't talked much about the car,
link |
but Qualcomm is now, you could argue was as much
link |
as an automotive company as wireless company,
link |
working 26 global brands.
link |
And it's easy to see, if you look at our mobile heritage
link |
and we talk about form factors, thermal, battery life,
link |
you're not gonna put a server in a trunk of a car,
link |
but you need as much computational capabilities.
link |
And that's we see Qualcomm providing,
link |
as the car become a connected computer on wheels,
link |
we provide the computational and all the sensors
link |
for you to do assisted driving
link |
for the new digital cockpit experience
link |
connecting the car to the cloud
link |
and it's all of that's happening at the edge.
link |
Does Qualcomm want to be the brain
link |
of a lot of autonomous vehicles in the future
link |
of different, you said brands, like Mercedes,
link |
BMW, I don't know, whatever, just whatever car.
link |
Cars have the sexy thing they do
link |
and then it defines their brand and so on.
link |
And then there's the brain
link |
that doesn't need to have branding supposedly.
link |
So does Qualcomm see that
link |
or will I be able to buy a Qualcomm car?
link |
Like literally it'll be Qualcomm.
link |
No, you're not gonna be able to buy a Qualcomm car,
link |
but we are ready on our way to become the brains of the car.
link |
The way you should think about Qualcomm automotive strategy
link |
is the car companies realize
link |
they need to become technology companies.
link |
You just look, for example, of the market cap
link |
of some of the new electrical commerce
link |
and compare them with the legacy car companies.
link |
Which one is that?
link |
I heard of, one of them lives in Austin.
link |
Let's say Rivian, right?
link |
Oh, that one too, yes.
link |
You know, the car companies are not going away.
link |
It's actually a mistake not to bet in the car companies.
link |
The car companies need a technology partner.
link |
They will provide the digital chassis for them.
link |
And that's what we're doing.
link |
So if you look at Qualcomm,
link |
we talk about a Snapdragon digital chassis.
link |
So we want to be the preferred technology partner
link |
of the car companies, and I think it's working.
link |
Strategy is working right now.
link |
So basically helping the car companies
link |
accelerate into becoming technology companies.
link |
Connecting the car to the cloud,
link |
redesign the interior of the digital cockpit experience,
link |
and provide the computation and sensor capabilities
link |
for autonomy and assisted driving.
link |
On the topic of robots, when millions or billions
link |
of robots roam the earth in the future among us humans,
link |
and I am for one concerned in a small percentage,
link |
but largely I'm excited about that future,
link |
will Qualcomm be the thing that powers their brain?
link |
We have in our IoT business,
link |
which has been one of the fastest growing business for us,
link |
a number of robotics engagement.
link |
So I'll give you some example.
link |
If you look of the Amazon Astro,
link |
you familiar with that?
link |
There's two Snapdragon in there.
link |
This is really exciting.
link |
They're supposed to ship it to me.
link |
Okay, but anyway, that's really cool.
link |
I didn't know it was Snapdragon.
link |
Yeah, we're working with robotics in industrial.
link |
Of course, drones.
link |
We're getting more and more traction for robotics.
link |
Sorry to interrupt.
link |
Industrial robotics, too, you said?
link |
Industrial, especially when you think about
link |
what's gonna happen with the factory of the future,
link |
the industrial side of the future,
link |
the warehouse of the future,
link |
when you bring 5G, for example, to it,
link |
and you have a number of different use cases,
link |
and then you see a lot of robotics application.
link |
And of course, drones.
link |
And the most famous, I will consider that a robot,
link |
the most famous robot in the world right now,
link |
it's powered by Snapdragon,
link |
which is the Mars Ingenuity helicopter.
link |
The whole helicopter, the cameras and everything,
link |
it's powered by Snapdragon.
link |
And talking about exciting thing for an engineer,
link |
the same Snapdragon that goes to a phone,
link |
and it can go to a Galaxy phone, for example, Samsung,
link |
the same, not a special one, went all the way to Mars.
link |
Is exploring other planets, looking for alien life,
link |
and maybe gets to meet them.
link |
Wouldn't that be interesting,
link |
if a Snapdragon is the thing that first sees an alien?
link |
It's like, what the hell?
link |
We did not program this in the computer vision.
link |
I once used the example to go back
link |
to the conversation we had about quality.
link |
As an engineer, you need to make sure it works.
link |
Can you imagine if it gets over there on Mars
link |
and it doesn't work?
link |
Listen, this is very stressful.
link |
What NASA, what SpaceX, what all those companies are doing
link |
is extremely stressful.
link |
The room for mistakes is tiny.
link |
But that's super exciting for an engineer, once again.
link |
There's been a global semiconductor chip shortage.
link |
So from your perspective, just it'd be interesting
link |
to get your expert analysis of the situation.
link |
What do you think are the main reasons
link |
and how has Qualcomm been affected and how can it help?
link |
In this, in the future, things like it.
link |
Okay, that's a big topic of conversation.
link |
And we only have five minutes.
link |
So I'll try to be as objective as I can.
link |
So first, let's talk about what caused it.
link |
And you hear a lot of different things.
link |
I will try to put it within the right context.
link |
The first thing that caused it, really,
link |
is the acceleration of digital transformation
link |
of pretty much everything in every industry.
link |
Every industry has been digitally transformed.
link |
And as such, the amount of semiconductors
link |
that are required is much larger.
link |
Just to give you a practical example,
link |
if you think about the automotive as an example,
link |
the cars that are, there's cars that are launched,
link |
a new model launching today.
link |
The new model launching today most likely has 10X
link |
the amount of chips of the prior model.
link |
And the model that people are working on
link |
that's coming in next, probably 10X that one.
link |
So you see the amount of silicon
link |
and then billions of things become smart.
link |
More and more data goes to the cloud.
link |
The data center grows.
link |
So the floor for semiconductor consumptions went up by a lot.
link |
Then you have things that aggravated this.
link |
The pandemic aggravated this.
link |
There is a couple of trends from the pandemic.
link |
The enterprise transformation of the home.
link |
The home became an enterprise.
link |
Massive amounts of upgrades on broadband and IoT.
link |
The office has changed to the way we work now,
link |
including the ability to support collaboration tools
link |
Then you have the higher demand for products
link |
during the pandemic because people wanted to be connected.
link |
People bought new phones and new tablets
link |
and new computers, new gaming.
link |
So all of those things came on top of that
link |
as the aggravated issue, but they're not the main issue.
link |
The main issue is it's actually a long term growth
link |
So what I'm hearing you say is the pandemic
link |
was not the cause, it was an aggravation.
link |
It was an aggravation.
link |
So is there a way we can support as a human civilization
link |
in terms of manufacture, in terms of supply,
link |
the kind of growth that you're talking about
link |
in devices and so on?
link |
Is there high level ideas you can say
link |
of what that's required there?
link |
Yes, and I think that's the second part of the answer.
link |
So what's happening now?
link |
How are we gonna get out of this?
link |
So we see a lot of capacity investments
link |
put into place by the industry.
link |
We had invested a lot with our suppliers.
link |
A lot of the suppliers had made plans
link |
about increasing the capacity.
link |
The industry is planning to double
link |
its total semiconductor manufacturing capacity
link |
within the next five years, an example.
link |
So that's already happening.
link |
And then you see things which are actually good.
link |
The initiative such as the United States CHIPS Act
link |
and now the European CHIPS Act.
link |
The United States CHIPS Act's about $52 billion.
link |
The European's about 43.
link |
Their goal combined is to get at least 50%
link |
of the consumption with manufacturing installed
link |
within the US and European geographies.
link |
And that's also very good.
link |
That's yet another incentive for more manufacturing capacity
link |
to be built and to be built
link |
with a geographic distributed way,
link |
which that's how you plan supply chain.
link |
So those I think are good things.
link |
So if anything we learn through the crisis
link |
is that semiconductor is important.
link |
Semiconductor companies are important
link |
and we need to invest in semiconductors.
link |
We're turning to the grilling of the CEO
link |
with the hard questions.
link |
This is almost from my own education of the space.
link |
You mentioned regulators.
link |
Qualcomm paid out and received payment
link |
of billions of dollars in settlement and fines.
link |
There seems to be a lot of huge lawsuits in this space.
link |
How do you explain that?
link |
Does this get in the way of innovation
link |
or does it promote it?
link |
I will rephrase it by saying there used to be a lot
link |
of lawsuits in this space.
link |
In addition of what we do in semiconductors,
link |
our processors and our modems, the Snapdragon platform,
link |
we also have a licensing business,
link |
which has been a part of the company since the beginning.
link |
As the largest inventors of the essential technology
link |
in 2G, CDMA, 3G, 4G and 5G,
link |
and Qualcomm contribute that to the standards.
link |
So we always had this model that rather than invent
link |
the technology and be the only one producing the products,
link |
we license so everyone can produce it.
link |
And as such, we receive intellectual property
link |
for the standard essential patents.
link |
As part of our past dispute with Apple,
link |
that's behind us now.
link |
They're my customers.
link |
And as part of that, I think the licensing model
link |
got tested, I think, in every geography.
link |
And we succeeded in every single geography
link |
to validate the pro competitiveness of this model.
link |
I think the fair, reasonable,
link |
non discriminatory aspect of this model.
link |
And I would argue that besides being the most successful
link |
licensing business to date in the industry,
link |
probably the one that's been battle tested
link |
and is most stable because there's not a single
link |
jurisdiction that we have not had to validate that model.
link |
So it's part of our past and what it creates
link |
is probably create a lot of stability
link |
in our licensing business.
link |
But having said that, the growth of the company
link |
is in the semiconductor space.
link |
And the semiconductor, so licensing is,
link |
you come up with a pretty good idea,
link |
you have a bunch of smart people coming up with cool ideas,
link |
and then once you come up with that idea,
link |
you sell that idea to others, they get to use it.
link |
That's essentially what a license.
link |
The license revenue we have is for the,
link |
what we call the SCP, standard essential patents,
link |
that are part of the 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G standards.
link |
So if you want to build anything with 5G,
link |
you need to get a license from Qualcomm
link |
because it uses Qualcomm essential technology
link |
as part of the standard.
link |
And a slightly different model,
link |
or a lot different model with the semiconductor
link |
is you design, you inject a bunch of fascinating ideas,
link |
how to build the Snapdragon, and then there's,
link |
because it's a fabulous company,
link |
you have somebody build the chip
link |
and then goes into a phone with the branding
link |
and all that kind of stuff.
link |
And that has less kind of players involved,
link |
it's not a license.
link |
We sell the product.
link |
We don't license semiconductor technology,
link |
we build products and we sell products.
link |
This is your first year as a CEO.
link |
Let's hope it'll be in June, it'll be one year.
link |
This is a company that's involved
link |
with a lot of fascinating technologies
link |
and it's touching the lives of billions of people.
link |
A lot of complicated stuff.
link |
Like I said, licensing technologies.
link |
You have to collaborate with manufacturers.
link |
You have to then work with, however many you said,
link |
car companies and all these clients and so on.
link |
And you have to, with tech companies, Apple and so on.
link |
What lessons have you learned about leadership
link |
and maybe about yourself as a human being
link |
from this first, almost a year, soon to be a year
link |
as a CEO of this incredible, this complex,
link |
this large company?
link |
That's a loaded question.
link |
Let me answer in reverse order.
link |
First thing that I learned, and I think it's probably common
link |
across CEOs, especially in our industry,
link |
is it will be great if I had more time.
link |
I think there's, especially because we grow
link |
in so many areas and there's so many things to learn,
link |
so many relationships to build, time to spend
link |
with a number of different technologies.
link |
But it kind of reflects really the size
link |
of the opportunity that exists for Qualcomm.
link |
Qualcomm, it is really growing in a number
link |
of different directions all at the same time.
link |
And so it did got busier.
link |
And part of this is because I'm spending a lot of time
link |
understanding the new industries we're going in
link |
and building relationships.
link |
Second thing, which is a lot to do
link |
with how I think about things
link |
and a little bit of my personality.
link |
At the end of the day, business partnerships
link |
are really done by people.
link |
And I think the importance of having trusted relationships
link |
for the long term is extremely important.
link |
And I've been dedicated to do that as CEO.
link |
We're not a company that plays for the short term.
link |
And when we build new partnerships,
link |
we expect that to be for decades.
link |
And so I spend time doing that
link |
and think that's important for Qualcomm.
link |
The other part of your question is,
link |
we do have a lot of opportunities in all different areas.
link |
What we like, and I've been fortunate enough
link |
to become CEO at a time,
link |
that a lot of the trends are pointing to our technology.
link |
We talk about some of them.
link |
We talk about merger of physical and digital spaces.
link |
We talk about the transformation of the automobile.
link |
We talk about the merge of computing and mobile,
link |
the enterprise transformation of the home.
link |
There are many of those trends.
link |
And those trends create opportunities for Qualcomm
link |
to be providing technology first.
link |
And as such, we're in a hurry.
link |
So I'm in a little bit of a hurry
link |
because I think the opportunity is incredible
link |
for technology, but having fun and enjoying the job.
link |
Is there a burden because of so much
link |
of what you said is partnerships
link |
and almost like friendships,
link |
connections with other human beings?
link |
Me as an introvert that has a lot of social anxiety,
link |
that seems extremely stressful.
link |
So is there that burden on your shoulders?
link |
You have to wake up every day
link |
and talk to friends you've had for many years.
link |
It can be, and then convince them
link |
and make partnerships with them,
link |
talk with them, describe to them the future,
link |
sell them an idea, and then yourself grow
link |
because you don't know what the heck
link |
the future is gonna be like.
link |
And you have to project both confidence and humility,
link |
all those kinds of things.
link |
Is that exhausting?
link |
It is exhausting, but it's something I do like to do.
link |
And it's not only with partners, really.
link |
It's also internally to your employees, I think,
link |
to get alignment on the vision
link |
and faith in the vision and execute.
link |
And at the end of the day, we're very fortunate.
link |
We have a lot of smart people.
link |
So people, if they're aligned with the vision,
link |
they know what to do.
link |
And then, of course, as CEO,
link |
you have to convince your investors
link |
that that's the right idea as well.
link |
If you can put on your wise sage hat,
link |
do you have a device for young people
link |
in high school and college?
link |
You yourself started from the humble beginnings in Brazil,
link |
maybe a bit of a wild, risky decision to go to Japan,
link |
and now are the head of one of the biggest,
link |
most successful, most impactful companies in the world.
link |
Given that story, can you give advice to young people today
link |
that they can have a career
link |
or just a life they can be proud of?
link |
I think the first thing,
link |
and of course, all of those answers
link |
are gonna relate to my own experience, right?
link |
The first thing is it always worked for me
link |
to have a plan, even if the plan
link |
is just what I'm gonna do in the next two years,
link |
but what do I want to do?
link |
Where do I wanna go?
link |
And I think it's important for people,
link |
especially young people,
link |
is to really have a dream and go pursue it.
link |
I mean, have a dream does not go back to bed to sleep.
link |
It's really what do you want to accomplish
link |
and then what it's gonna take to do that.
link |
And then believe in yourself.
link |
Like I said, I joined Qualcomm as an engineer
link |
and I didn't have any plans when I joined to be CEO,
link |
but I do want, as an engineer,
link |
what I wanted to do, where I wanna contribute,
link |
what I wanted to work on,
link |
and then keep evolving from that point in time.
link |
The other thing is, this is an advice,
link |
it's more of like career advice that I got early in my career
link |
was extremely helpful for me
link |
and I will give that advice
link |
to everyone that is interested.
link |
Spend time understanding what are the things you're good at
link |
and what are the things you're not.
link |
Like what is the real border between your area of competence
link |
and your area of incompetence?
link |
And once you see that,
link |
once you see that you know exactly what you have to work on
link |
and you can say, that's where I wanna go next,
link |
this is the gap, I need to do it.
link |
And it's faster when you can identify yourself
link |
before other people can tell you.
link |
Then it leads to automatically the next step.
link |
Surround yourself, the people that are very good
link |
at the things that you're not.
link |
So you have to be radically honest
link |
about the things that you're not good at,
link |
but given what you're passionate about,
link |
you need to get good at,
link |
or you would like to get good at,
link |
and surround yourself by those people.
link |
How often did the plans you make actually work out?
link |
So you said it's important to make plans.
link |
You didn't say anything about
link |
it's important to execute on those plans.
link |
More than 50% success rate.
link |
Try to keep it above 50.
link |
Try to keep it above 50.
link |
What was the whole, why did you end up in Japan?
link |
I've been fortunate enough to work in cellular and wireless
link |
So I always liked communications.
link |
When I entered engineering school,
link |
my dad was electrical engineer,
link |
but he worked with the utility company.
link |
He wanted me to graduate
link |
in traditional electrical engineering,
link |
like energy generation, distribution.
link |
But I like electronics communication,
link |
so I ended up doing both.
link |
And I always liked communication.
link |
I was fascinated by wireless communication.
link |
So my first job at a college,
link |
I started working for a Japanese company down in Brazil,
link |
was NEC, and within about a year in,
link |
they transferred me to Tokyo.
link |
They asked me to go to their headquarters,
link |
and it was the first time I left Brazil.
link |
A little bit different from Brazil.
link |
Culturally. Very different.
link |
It is in the other side of the planet.
link |
And that's how I started.
link |
You said your father's an electrical engineer.
link |
Do you think what you're doing now makes your father proud?
link |
I think he's very proud.
link |
I think especially, you know,
link |
he tells me that I'm still the same person
link |
that never changed.
link |
Does he give you advice?
link |
Does he criticize what you're doing?
link |
Tell you how to improve?
link |
My mom and dad still give me advice today.
link |
I'm very fortunate for that.
link |
I'm also proud because there are very few Brazilians
link |
that have achieved a position as CEO
link |
of a company the size of Qualcomm.
link |
And I do know that also I carry a burden,
link |
especially for the Latino community,
link |
to be an inspiration for them
link |
and make sure I set a good example.
link |
So not just your mom and dad,
link |
but the culture, the people that were originally your home.
link |
Do you, you know, life is finite.
link |
Do you think about your own mortality?
link |
Look, I'm a devout Christian,
link |
and so I'm a big believer that there's,
link |
this is just a transition.
link |
But don't spend a lot of time thinking about that.
link |
I am somebody good, better, and different
link |
that try as much as possible to leave the present,
link |
and that's what I do.
link |
And try to make the present better
link |
on this place here on Earth.
link |
And that some of these technologies,
link |
some of these ideas are kind of a different kind
link |
of immortality as well,
link |
because they propagate through time
link |
and have impact on people in the best possible way.
link |
So technology can be scary,
link |
technology can be destructive,
link |
but it seems like in the end it can do a lot of good.
link |
More good, there's more good than bad.
link |
What do you think is the meaning of this whole thing?
link |
I asked you about aliens observing us.
link |
What's the meaning of life?
link |
Cristiano, what's the meaning of life?
link |
That's not an easy question at all.
link |
I think that's a question,
link |
at least for me, you have to answer individually.
link |
But I do believe we're all here for a purpose.
link |
In my prayers I always ask that I stay on track
link |
to whatever my purpose is,
link |
but I do believe we're here for a purpose,
link |
and we need to do the best we can
link |
during the time we have on this Earth.
link |
So that means create beautiful things for you
link |
Yes, and create beautiful things, yes.
link |
What's the role of love in the human condition?
link |
Love's very important,
link |
and it's an essential part of being human.
link |
It comes in the package.
link |
And I think if you look at the situation,
link |
what's happening right now,
link |
I think if you look at the situation
link |
with some of the underprivileged communities,
link |
you look at the homeless situation,
link |
I think we all need more love.
link |
Yeah, and I think people that build incredible technology
link |
sometimes forget the love part.
link |
Those are all, it's all integrated.
link |
There's no, thinking about humanity is really important
link |
when you build tools that empower that humanity.
link |
Because there's, I think, at least I personally believe
link |
we're all capable of both evil and good.
link |
And we have to build technology, build societies,
link |
build governments, build communities
link |
that inspire us to connect with the good part
link |
I'm a big believer that technology is, at the end,
link |
the force for good.
link |
And if you just look, you know,
link |
not trying to move away from a deep discussion
link |
to a more specific, technical one.
link |
But we started a conversation talking about smartphones.
link |
And smartphones really, the first time
link |
that you could say that everybody in the world
link |
was able to connect to the internet
link |
and connect to each other.
link |
And I think what that empowerment that that provided,
link |
it's an incredible force for good.
link |
Well, the company you lead, the technology you've created,
link |
one of them that I'm especially excited about,
link |
which is Snapdragon, the whole line of processors there.
link |
Currently, I would say at about 10 billion transistors.
link |
If you think about the human brain,
link |
it's about 100 billion neurons.
link |
So I think 11 Samsung Galaxy S22s
link |
are already smarter than me.
link |
And that's being nice to me.
link |
I'm really honored that you spent
link |
your extremely valuable time with me,
link |
even though you said Pele is the favorite player.
link |
Beyond all of that, I think you're an incredible person,
link |
incredible leader, and you lead
link |
an incredible engineering company.
link |
So thank you for doing that.
link |
Oh, thank you so much.
link |
Thanks for the kind words.
link |
Really a pleasure having this conversation.
link |
I really had a lot of fun doing it.
link |
And thank you for having me in your podcast.
link |
Thanks for listening to this conversation
link |
with Christiano Aman.
link |
To support this podcast, please check out
link |
our sponsors in the description.
link |
And now, let me leave you with some words
link |
from Stephen Hawking.
link |
For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals.
link |
Then something happened, which unleashed
link |
the power of our imagination.
link |
We learned to talk, and we learned to listen.
link |
Speech has allowed the communication of ideas,
link |
enabling human beings to work together
link |
to build the impossible.
link |
Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking,
link |
and its greatest failures by not talking.
link |
It doesn't have to be like this.
link |
Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future.
link |
With the technology at our disposal,
link |
the possibilities are unbounded.
link |
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
link |
Thank you for listening, and hope to see you next time.