Qualcomm is positioning robotics as its next significant growth frontier, with Chief Executive Cristiano Amon forecasting meaningful commercial scale within the next two years as artificial intelligence accelerates real-world deployment.
Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Amon signaled confidence that robotics will evolve from experimental deployments into a material revenue contributor for the U.S. chipmaker.
“I think robotics will start to get scale within the next two years,” Amon told CNBC on Monday, outlining a timeline that suggests Qualcomm expects tangible commercial momentum sooner rather than later.
He reinforced that outlook by adding, “I think it’s going to become like a larger opportunity within two years,” underscoring management’s belief that robotics can complement its established smartphone dominance.
Dragonwing Strategy Extends Beyond Smartphones
In January, Qualcomm introduced a robotics-focused processor under its Dragonwing brand, marking a deliberate extension of its chipset strategy beyond the Snapdragon systems that power millions of mobile devices globally.
The Dragonwing platform is designed to operate across multiple robotics categories, reflecting Qualcomm’s ambition to replicate in robotics the ecosystem approach that proved highly successful in smartphones.
Rather than targeting a single niche, Qualcomm is developing adaptable silicon capable of supporting industrial robotic arms, autonomous service machines, and increasingly sophisticated humanoid systems under development worldwide.
Humanoid robotics in particular has drawn attention from companies including Tesla, alongside numerous Chinese technology firms racing to commercialize general-purpose robotic platforms.
Physical AI Driving Market Optimism
Market enthusiasm surrounding robotics has intensified as advances in artificial intelligence models enhance machines’ ability to interpret surroundings and execute complex physical tasks autonomously.
These developments fall within what industry leaders describe as “physical AI,” where machine learning models guide movement, perception, and real-time decision-making in embodied systems rather than purely digital environments.
“People have said just robotics alone could be a trillion-dollar opportunity in terms of market size … the reality is, we see now, because of physical AI, robots have become a lot more useful,” Amon said.
Forecasts vary widely, yet many point to enormous long-term potential, with McKinsey estimating general-purpose robots could represent a $370 billion market by 2040.
Meanwhile, analysts at RBC Capital Markets have projected a total addressable market for humanoid robots reaching $9 trillion by 2050, reflecting transformative expectations across industries.
Competitive Landscape Intensifies
Qualcomm is not alone in identifying robotics as a major growth lever, as semiconductor peers increasingly emphasize AI-driven automation as a future revenue pillar.
Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, has previously described robotics as one of his company’s most promising long-term expansion areas, linking it closely to AI infrastructure leadership.
Robotics featured prominently across exhibition halls at Mobile World Congress, where companies showcased interactive machines designed for manufacturing, logistics, and consumer applications.
Chinese smartphone brand Honor even teased its first humanoid robot during the event, illustrating how rapidly robotics capabilities are moving from industrial settings toward mainstream technology ecosystems.
For Qualcomm, success will depend not only on silicon performance but also on building a developer and hardware partner ecosystem that can standardize robotics platforms around its processors.
If adoption accelerates as anticipated, robotics could represent Qualcomm’s most meaningful diversification effort since expanding beyond mobile handsets into automotive and connected computing markets.
While smartphones remain central to its revenue base, the company’s leadership clearly believes that embodied AI systems will define the next wave of scalable semiconductor demand.
