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Item 1. Business

2021-11-03 compared with 2020-11-04 · 264 added, 255 removed, 264 unchanged (66% of the section changed)

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The financial results for our 53-week fiscal years and our 14-week fiscal quarters will not be exactly comparable to our 52-week fiscal years and our 13-week fiscal quarters.

The fiscal years ended September 27, 2020 and September 29, 2019 included 52 weeks.

The fiscal year ended September 30, 2018 included 53 weeks.

The fiscal years ended September 26, 2021, September 27, 2020 and September 29, 2019 included 52 weeks.

We are a global leader in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry.

Our technologies and products are used in mobile devices and other wireless products, including network equipment, broadband gateway equipment, consumer electronic devices and other connected devices.

Our technologies and products are used in mobile devices and other wireless products, and are sold across industries and applications beyond mobile handsets, including automotive and the internet of things (IoT) (which includes the industries and applications of consumer, industrial and edge networking), among others.

Our inventions have helped power the growth in smartphones, which have connected billions of people.

We are a leader in 3G (third generation), 4G (fourth generation) and 5G (fifth generation) wireless technologies.

Our technologies and products are also used in industry segments or applications beyond mobile, including automotive and internet of things (IoT) (which includes connectivity and networking, computing and fixed wireless broadband), among others.

We derive revenues principally from sales of integrated circuit products and licensing of our intellectual property, including patents and other rights.

We derive revenues principally from sales of integrated circuit products, including our Snapdragon® family of highly-integrated, system-based solutions, and licensing of our intellectual property, including patents and other rights.

The foundational technologies we invent help power the modern mobile experience, impacting how the world connects, computes and communicates.

We share these inventions broadly through our licensing program, enabling wide ecosystem access to technologies at the core of mobile innovation, and through the sale of our wireless integrated circuit platforms (also known as chips or chipsets) and other products.

We collaborate across the ecosystem, including manufacturers, operators, developers, system integrators, cloud providers, governments and industry standards organizations, to enable a global environment to drive continued progress and growth.

We collaborate across the ecosystem, including manufacturers, operators, developers, system integrators, cloud providers, tool vendors, service providers, governments and industry standards organizations, to enable a global environment to drive continued progress and growth.

We have a long history of driving innovation.

We have played and continue to play a leading role in developing system level inventions that serve as the foundation for 3G, 4G and 5G wireless technologies.

This includes the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) families of technologies, with the latter encompassing LTE (Long Term Evolution) and 5G NR (New Radio), which, along with TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), are the primary digital technologies currently used to transmit voice or data over radio waves using a public or private cellular wireless network.

This includes technologies such as the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) families of technologies, with the latter encompassing LTE (Long Term Evolution) and 5G NR (New Radio), which are the primary digital technologies currently used to transmit voice or data over radio waves using a public or private cellular wireless network.

We own significant intellectual property, including patents, patent applications and trade secrets, applicable to products that implement any version of CDMA and/or OFDMA technologies.

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We also develop and commercialize numerous other key technologies used in mobile and other wireless devices, and we own substantial intellectual property related to these technologies.

Some of these inventions are contributed to and commercialized as industry standards, such as certain video and audio codecs, Wi-Fi, GPS (Global Positioning System) and Bluetooth.

Some of these inventions are contributed to and commercialized as industry standards, such as for certain video and audio codecs, Wi-Fi, GPS (Global Positioning System) and Bluetooth ® .

We have also developed other

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We conduct business primarily through our QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) semiconductor business and our QTL (Qualcomm Technology Licensing) licensing business.

QCT develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies for use in mobile devices, wireless networks, broadband gateway equipment, consumer electronic devices, other devices used in IoT and automotive systems for telematics and infotainment.

QCT develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies, including RFFE, for use in mobile devices, automotive systems for telematics, connectivity and digital cockpit (also known as infotainment) and IoT including wireless networks, broadband gateway equipment, consumer electronic devices and industrial devices.

QTL grants licenses or otherwise provides rights to use portions of our intellectual property portfolio, which includes certain patent rights essential to and/or useful in the manufacture and sale of certain wireless products.

Our QSI (Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives) reportable segment makes strategic investments.

We also have nonreportable segments, including Qualcomm Government Technologies or QGOV, our cloud AI inference processing initiative and other technology and service initiatives.

We also have nonreportable segments, including QGOV (Qualcomm Government Technologies) and our cloud AI inference processing initiative and other technology and service initiatives.

Industry Trends

As the largest technology platform in the world, mobile has transformed the way we connect, compute and communicate.

The scale and pace of innovation in the mobile industry, especially around connectivity and computing technologies, is also impacting industries beyond wireless, empowering new services, new business models and new experiences.

Our inventions and licensing program have been integral to, and provided foundational technologies for, the evolution of the mobile industry.

Advanced connectivity and high-performance, low-power computing technologies from mobile are also impacting industries beyond wireless, empowering new services, new business models and new ways to engage and interact with customers.

Our breakthrough inventions, along with our flexible and transparent licensing program, have been integral to the growth and evolution of the mobile industry.

Advancing Connectivity.

3G and 4G mobile broadband technologies have been key innovations of mobile, providing users with fast, reliable, always-on connectivity.

As of September 30, 2020, there were approximately 6.2 billion 3G/4G connections globally, representing 78% of total mobile connections (GSMA Intelligence, November 2020).

By 2024, global 3G/4G connections are projected to reach 6.5 billion, with approximately 89% of these connections in emerging regions and China (GSMA Intelligence, November 2020).

3G networks, first launched in the early 2000s, ushered in the mobile broadband era, serving as a true alternative to traditional desktop internet service, allowing users to experience the internet from virtually anywhere.

The combination of faster processing and larger screens with mobile broadband connectivity has transformed how people interact with information and with each other.

The launch of 4G in 2010 brought true mobile broadband connectivity to wireless networks.

With its faster data rates and greater capacity, 4G has become the foundational technology to many of the applications and services used today, including e-commerce, video streaming, video calling, social media and gaming.

3G and 4G mobile broadband technologies have also helped to strengthen economic and social development globally by providing access to government and healthcare resources and creating new educational and entrepreneurial opportunities.

With the first 5G global specifications defined in 2018 by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), an industry standards development organization, initial commercial 5G network deployments and device launches, which focus on enhanced mobile broadband services, began in 2019 and will continue into 2021 and beyond.

As of September 30, 2020, more than 110 operators have deployed 5G commercial networks in nearly 50 countries and territories, and over 400 operators are investing in 5G (GSA, October 2020).

Calendar year 2020 5G global smartphone shipments are expected to reach more than 200 million units (IDC, Mobile Phone Tracker, 2020Q2).

With support for multi-gigabit data rates, low latency and greater capacity, 5G enhances mobile broadband services, including ultra-high definition (4K) video streaming and sharing, near-instantaneous access to cloud services, multi-player cloud gaming and AR/VR/XR (augmented reality/virtual reality/extended reality) applications.

5G also brings more capacity and efficiency to cellular networks, which may enable operators to reduce their operating costs and offer new unlimited mobile data plans.

The second 5G global specifications defined in 2020 by 3GPP (Release 16) and future releases of 5G are expected to expand the reach of the technology to industries beyond mobile to create new services, business models and experiences, such as automated driving built on the concepts of computer vision, sensor fusion and vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

We believe 5G will also enable artificial intelligence-based platforms designed to bring greater autonomy and wireless connectivity to factory automation for more reconfigurable manufacturing and other industrial applications (known as industrial IoT) through ultra-reliable, ultra-low latency communication links.

We also expect 5G to connect a significant number of “things” (also known as IoT), including among others, consumer, enterprise, retail, wearable and voice and music devices, with connectivity designed to meet diverse (low) power and cost requirements, as well as to address both low- and high-complexity applications.

Most 5G devices include multimode support for 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi, enabling service continuity where 5G has yet to be deployed and simultaneous connectivity across 4G technology, while also allowing mobile operators to utilize current network deployments.

At the same time, 4G is expected to continue to evolve in parallel with the further development of 5G and become fundamental to many of the key 5G technologies (through multi-connectivity), such as 5G massive IoT leveraging LTE IoT, support for unlicensed spectrum and gigabit LTE user data speeds.

The first phase of 5G networks predominantly supports mobile broadband services for smartphones, both in lower spectrum bands below 7 GHz (commonly referred to as sub-6, sub-7 or Frequency Range 1) and in higher bands above 24 GHz (commonly referred to as millimeter wave (mmWave) or Frequency Range 2).

As with previous generations of mobile networks, it will take time to deploy new

however, we expect that deployment of 5G networks will be at a faster pace as compared to the transition from 3G to 4G technologies.

3G technology introduced the world to the potential of the mobile internet, and the ability to access the internet virtually anytime and anywhere.

4G brought mobile broadband speeds that helped fuel the smartphone era, forever changing the way we work, live and connect with others.

4G has become the foundational technology to many of the applications and services used today, including e-commerce, video streaming, video calling, social media and gaming.

Building on foundational innovations developed for 3G and 4G, the mobile industry is quickly moving to 5G technology.

Beginning with the Release 15 specification issued by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), an organization that develops technical specifications, 5G is designed to support multi-gigabit data rates, low latency and greater capacity than previous generations of mobile technology to enable enhanced mobile broadband experiences, including ultra-high definition (4K) video streaming and sharing, near-instantaneous access to cloud services, immersive cloud gaming and extended reality (XR), which includes augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR).

5G’s performance and capacity improvements are also enabling operators to offer new consumer and enterprise services while also reducing their operating costs.

Although 5G networks are being deployed at a faster pace as compared to the transition from 3G to 4G technologies, as with previous generations of mobile networks, it will take time.

Since the first commercial 5G networks were launched in April of 2019, 180 operators in more than 70 countries have commercially launched 5G, with more than 280 additional operators investing to deploy the technology as of September 30, 2021 (GSA, October 2021).

Most 5G devices include multimode support for 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi technologies, enabling service continuity where 5G has yet to be deployed.

They also allow mobile operators to utilize existing 3G and/or 4G network infrastructure, enabling them to roll out 5G services over time, while also helping to maximize previous generation equipment investments.

As of September 30, 2021, there were approximately 7.0 billion 3G/4G/5G connections globally, representing 85% of total mobile connections (GSMA Intelligence, November 2021).

By 2025, global 3G/4G/5G connections are projected to reach 8.4 billion, with approximately 86% of these connections in emerging regions and China (GSMA Intelligence, November 2021 ).

Consumer Demand in Smartphones.

From October 2019 through September 2020, approximately 1.2 billion smartphones are estimated to have shipped globally, representing a year-over-year decrease of approximately 9% primarily driven by the global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which negatively impacted consumer demand for smartphones and replacement rates (IDC, Mobile Phone Tracker, 2020Q2).

Smartphone shipments in calendar 2021 are expected to increase by approximately 9% year-over-year (IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 2020Q2), reflecting a gradual recovery in demand for smartphones and replacement rates from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking beyond 2021, we expect replacement rates to moderately lengthen when compared to pre-COVID-19 levels, particularly in developed regions and China, as consumer demand is increasingly driven by new product launches and/or innovation cycles.

Consumer demand for new types of experiences, combined with the needs of mobile operators and device manufacturers to provide differentiated features and services, is driving continued innovation within the smartphone industry, across connectivity, processing, AI, multimedia, imaging, audio and more.

As a result, the smartphone continues to be the go-to device for social networking, music and video streaming, gaming, email and web browsing, among others.

It is expected that the evolution of 5G will fuel further innovation within the smartphone industry to support more intuitive and immersive experiences.

From October 2020 through September 2021, approximately 1.4 billion smartphones are estimated to have shipped globally, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 8%, primarily driven by a recovery from the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which negatively impacted consumer demand for smartphones (IDC, Mobile Phone Tracker, 2021Q2).

Smartphone shipments in calendar 2022 are expected to increase by approximately 3% year-over-year (IDC, Mobile Phone Tracker, 2021Q2), reflecting modest growth in emerging regions.

We estimate that 5G smartphone shipments will be between 500 and 550 million in calendar 2021, more than doubling compared to the prior year.

Looking beyond 2022, we expect modest smartphone growth in emerging regions to continue along with relatively flat demand in developed regions.

Consumer demand for new experiences, combined with the needs of mobile operators and device manufacturers to provide differentiated features and services, is driving continued innovation within the smartphone across connectivity, processing, AI, multimedia, imaging, audio and more.

As a result, the smartphone continues to be the go-to device for social networking, music and video streaming, photography and video capture, e-commerce, gaming, email, web browsing and more.

5G enables these experiences to be more immersive, intuitive and interactive.

Transforming Other Industries:

With their significant scale and highly integrated solutions, industries beyond mobile, including automotive and IoT, among others, are leveraging the same technology innovations found in today’s leading smartphones to enhance existing products and services as well as to create new products and services.

Our inventions that contribute to the formation of advanced cellular technologies, such as 3G, 4G and now 5G connectivity, are helping to drive, and in the case of 5G accelerate the pace of, this transformation.

For example, in the automotive industry, approximately 70% of new vehicles produced in 2025 are projected to have cellular connectivity, compared to 48% in 2019 (Strategy Analytics, October 2020).

In addition, the installed base of non-mobile devices with cellular connectivity, which includes IoT devices among others, is projected to grow 190% between 2020 and 2024 (ABI Research, October 2020).

The automotive industry continues to adopt advanced connectivity and compute technologies from mobile.

According to analyst data, more than 70% of new vehicles sold in 2027 are projected to

have embedded cellular connectivity, as compared to 55% in 2020 (Strategy Analytics, October 2021), which includes growth in 5G connectivity.

Digitalization of the automotive cockpit continues to transform the in-vehicle experience, enabling greater personalization of content and settings for both drivers and passengers as automakers respond to growing interest from consumers to bring their digital lifestyles into the vehicle.

Car-to-cloud platform solutions are helping automakers improve cost efficiencies, create new service opportunities throughout the lifecycle of a vehicle with over-the-air (OTA) update capabilities and receive valuable vehicle and usage analytics.

High-performance, low-power computing technologies from mobile are being used to improve advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) features and will continue progression towards supporting higher levels of automation and safety.

Transforming Other Industries:

Demand for connected devices beyond smartphones continues to grow at a rapid pace across consumer, edge networking and industrial applications, in part due to the expanded use cases enabled by 5G technologies.

The installed base of IoT devices, which includes everything from wearables to industrial handhelds to gateways, is projected to more than double between 2021 and 2025 to over 27 billion (IoT Analytics, October 2021).

The growth in IoT devices is a catalyst in driving demand in edge networking platforms.

Trends such as remote working, distance learning and telehealth have also helped accelerate the adoption of fast, reliable wireless technologies and driven the demand for connected devices and networking equipment.

We expect many of these trends to continue well into the future.

According to survey data, 79% of executives plan to allow employees to continue to work remotely at least part time (WeWork/Workplace Intelligence, April 2021), and over 70% of employees want flexible remote work options to remain in place (Microsoft, March 2021).

In the United States alone, the virtual care market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 40% through 2025 (Frost & Sullivan, March 2021), signaling projected demand for remote connectivity.

Consumer IoT demand is being fueled by the adoption of the latest mobile technologies in consumer electronics products, including personal computing (e.g., tablets and personal computers), connected audio (e.g., wireless earbuds, speakers and soundbars), wearables (e.g., smart watches and XR) and others (e.g., camera and video collaboration, exercise equipment and home appliances).

Connectivity brought to these devices enables new services, applications and experiences.

Edge Networking.

Growth in demand for connected devices, along with advances in wireless technology, are driving increased demand for edge networking products (including mobile broadband and wireless access points).

5G brings a broadband connection to the home via wireless technologies that allows for the delivery of high-speed, low-latency connections, enabling operators to replace traditional “last-mile” wired broadband connections.

Advances in Wi-Fi alongside 5G technologies are driving consumer and enterprise demand for the latest Wi-Fi 6 access point technologies that leverage increased network speed, capacity and efficiency to support the increased number of connected devices at home and at work.

The digital transformation happening across industries, which is being driven by the adoption of mobile technologies, is fueling the growth of and new use cases for industrial IoT.

Central to this transformation is the combination of connectivity, computing, on-device AI and big data that brings real time data and insights that are helping companies in industries such as retail, transportation, logistics and asset tracking and utilities gain new knowledge and insights about their products and services, manufacturing processes and more, which will help drive efficiencies and transform the way companies operate.

Wireless Technologies Overview

The demand in the use of wireless devices worldwide and the demand for data services and applications requires continuous innovation to improve the user experience, support new services, increase network capacity, make use of different frequency bands and allow for dense network deployments.

The worldwide demand in the use of wireless devices and for data services and applications requires continuous innovation to improve the user experiences, support new services, increase network capacity, make use of different frequency bands and allow for dense network deployments.

To meet these requirements, different wireless communications technologies continue to evolve.

We have a long history of heavily investing in research and development and have developed foundational technologies that drive the continued evolution of the wireless industry, including CDMA and OFDMA.

We have a long history of investing heavily in research and development and have developed foundational technologies that help drive the continued evolution of the wireless industry, including CDMA and OFDMA.

As a result, we have developed and acquired (and continue to develop and acquire) significant related intellectual property.

This intellectual property has been incorporated into the most widely accepted and deployed cellular wireless communications technology standards, and we have licensed it to several hundred licensees, including leading wireless device and infrastructure manufacturers.

Cellular Wireless Technologies.

Relevant cellular wireless technologies can be grouped into the following categories.

TDMA-based technologies are characterized by their access method allowing several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different time slots.

Most of these systems are classified as 2G technology.

The main example of TDMA-based technologies is GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications).

The transition of wireless devices from 2G to 3G/4G and the deployment of 5G technologies continued around the world with estimated 3G/4G/5G connections up 7% year-over-year (GSMA Intelligence, November 2020).

As of September 30, 2020, there were approximately 1.6 billion GSM connections worldwide, representing approximately 20% of total cellular connections, down from 25% as of September 30, 2019 (GSMA Intelligence, November 2020).

CDMA-based technologies are characterized by their access method allowing several users to share the same frequency and time by allocating different orthogonal codes to individual users.

Most of the CDMA-based technologies are classified as 3G technology.

There are a number of variants of CDMA-based technologies deployed around the world, in particular CDMA2000, EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) and TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous CDMA) (deployed exclusively in China).

CDMA-based technologies provide vastly improved capacity for voice and low-rate data services as compared to analog technologies and significant improvements over 2G technology.

A number of variants of CDMA-based technologies have been deployed around the world, in particular CDMA2000, EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) and TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous CDMA, which was deployed exclusively in China).

CDMA-based technologies provide vastly improved capacity for voice and low-rate data services as compared to analog technologies and significant improvements over earlier technologies (e.g., 2G technology).

As of September 30, 2021, there were approximately 1.7 billion CDMA-based connections worldwide, representing approximately 21% of total cellular connections, down from 23% as of September 30, 2020 as consumers migrate to OFDMA-based technologies (GSMA Intelligence, November 2021).

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5G heavily leverages OFDMA-based technologies.

3GPP developed 4G specifications through the standardization of the radio component (LTE) and the core network component (Enhanced Packet Core or EPC).

Similarly, 3GPP has developed 5G specifications through the specification of the radio component (NR) and the core network component (5G Core or 5GC).

3GPP developed the 4G system through the specification of the radio component (LTE) and the core network component (Enhanced Packet Core or EPC).

Similarly, 3GPP has developed the 5G system through the specification of the radio component (NR) and the core network component (5G Core or 5GC).

Unlike 4G that has fixed Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) parameterization, 5G has multiple OFDM parameterizations to address a wide range of spectrum and use cases.

We continue to play a significant role in the further development of LTE-based technologies, such as Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced Machine Type Communications (eMTC) and Enhanced TV broadcast (EnTV), in addition to the core LTE operation evolution, such as enhancements for mobility and massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operation.

LTE is incorporated in 3GPP specifications beginning with Release 8 and uses OFDMA in the downlink and single carrier FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) in the uplink.

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LTE Advanced brings many more enhancements, including carrier aggregation, advanced multi-antenna techniques and optimizations for small cells.

Apart from improving the performance of existing networks, there are also enhancements under the umbrella of LTE Advanced Pro, including LTE Direct for proximity-based device-to-device discovery, improved LTE broadcast, optimizations of narrowband communications designed for IoT (known as eMTC and NB-IoT) and the ability to use LTE Advanced in unlicensed spectrum (LTE Unlicensed), as well as in shared spectrum bands in various regions (such as the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, or CBRS, in the United States).

Apart from improving the performance of existing networks, there are also enhancements under the umbrella of LTE Advanced Pro, including LTE Direct for proximity-based device-to-device discovery, improved LTE broadcast, optimizations of narrowband communications designed for IoT (known as eMTC and NB-IoT) and the ability to use LTE Advanced in unlicensed spectrum (LTE Unlicensed), as well as in shared spectrum bands in various regions, such as the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) in the United States.

There are multiple options for deploying LTE Unlicensed for different deployment scenarios.

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eLAA enables aggregation of unlicensed and licensed spectrum in the uplink.

Beginning with Release 14, 3GPP specifications provide enhancements specifically for vehicular communications known as cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), which includes both direct communication (vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-pedestrian) in dedicated spectrum that is independent of a cellular network and cellular communications with networks in traditional mobile broadband licensed spectrum.

C-V2X is designed to serve as the foundation for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), enabling vehicles to communicate with each other and everything around them, providing non-line-of-sight awareness for enhanced road safety and traffic efficiency.

3GPP Release 16, which was completed in July 2020, incorporates 5G features for C-V2X, such as higher throughput, lower latency and increased reliability capabilities to enable a higher level of performance and predictability required for automated driving and other advanced safety use cases.

Beginning with Release 14, 3GPP specifications provide enhancements specifically for C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything), which includes both direct communication (vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-pedestrian) in dedicated spectrum that is independent of a cellular network and cellular communications with networks in traditional mobile broadband licensed spectrum.

As of September 30, 2021, there were approximately 4.7 billion global LTE connections worldwide, representing approximately 58% of total cellular connections, up from 56% as of September 30, 2020 (GSMA Intelligence, November 2021).

The wireless industry is actively developing and commercializing 5G technologies.

Initial commercial 5G network deployments and device launches began in calendar 2019 and continued throughout 2020.

We expect that 5G network deployments and device launches will increase over the next several years.

Commercial 5G network deployments and device launches began in calendar 2019, and we expect that additional deployments and device launches will occur as more operators and geographic regions launch 5G services.

Many of our inventions at the core of 3G and 4G serve as foundational technologies for 5G.

5G is designed to transform the role of wireless technologies and already incorporates or soon will incorporate advancements on 3G/4G features available today, including device-to-device capabilities and the use of all different types of spectrum (including licensed, unlicensed and shared spectrum).

5G is designed to transform the role of wireless technologies and already incorporates advancements on 3G/4G features available today, including device-to-device capabilities and the use of all different types of spectrum (including licensed, unlicensed and shared spectrum).

We continue to play a significant role in driving advancements in 5G, including contributing to 3GPP standardization activities that are defining the continued evolution of 5G NR and 5GC standards.

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Release 15 enables different architecture deployment choices of 5G networks while sharing the same radio access technology.

This is due to 5G’s ability to target diverse services with very different technical requirements (from enhanced mobile broadband to massive IoT to mission critical services), its utilization of diverse types of spectrum (from the low bands to mmWave bands) and its ability to support diverse types of deployment scenarios.

Predominant technological components of 5G include the ability to address ultra-reliable, low-latency communication, new channel coding schemes to efficiently support large data blocks, MIMO to increase coverage and network capacity and mobile mmWave to increase the data rate offered to users.

This is due to 5G’s ability to target diverse services with very different technical requirements (from enhanced mobile broadband to massive IoT to mission critical services), its utilization of diverse types of spectrum (from the low bands to millimeter wave (mmWave) bands) and its ability to support diverse types of deployment scenarios.

Predominant technological components of 5G include the ability to address ultra-reliable, low-latency communication, new channel coding schemes to efficiently support large data blocks, MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) to increase coverage and network capacity and mobile mmWave to increase the data rate offered to users.

5G uses OFDMA in the downlink and either OFDMA or single carrier FDMA in the uplink depending on the use case.

Like 3G and 4G, 5G supports carrier aggregation across spectrum bands, across FDD and TDD and across licensed and unlicensed spectrum (starting with Release 16), and 5G also supports dual connectivity across 4G and 5G.

A key benefit of 5G is its ability to take advantage of very wide channel bandwidth such as 400/100 MHz

(compared to LTE’s 20 MHz maximum bandwidth, which requires carrier aggregation to combine spectrum beyond 20 MHz).

As with previous cellular generations, 5G is designed to support seamless compatibility with 2G/3G/4G technologies through multimode devices.

A key benefit of 5G is its ability to take advantage of very wide channel bandwidth (i.e., up to 100 MHz per component carrier for sub-6 and up to 400MHz per component carrier for mmWave), compared to LTE’s 20 MHz maximum bandwidth, which requires carrier aggregation to combine spectrum

beyond 20 MHz.

As with previous cellular generations, 5G is designed to support seamless compatibility with 3G/4G technologies through multimode devices.

5G is the first generation of cellular wireless communication systems to use transmissions at mmWave bands, which creates certain challenges including coverage limitations and blockages, heightened costs and power constraints.

In order to address these challenges, we have been a leader in designing RFFE modules and RF filter products that use adaptive beamforming (which spatially concentrates radio energy in a given beam direction to extend the range) and that enable the efficient tracking and switching of beams in accordance with varying radio conditions.

In order to address these challenges, we have been a leader in designing RFFE modules and RF filter products which, when paired with our modems, provide a comprehensive 5G modem-to-antenna solution.

Our RFFE modules and RF filter products use adaptive beamforming (which spatially concentrates radio energy in a given beam direction to extend the range) and enable the efficient tracking and switching of beams in accordance with varying radio conditions.

mmWave deployments rely on small cells (low-powered cellular base stations typically used for increased system capacity and which may have already incorporated Gigabit LTE) to allow for faster, more reliable mobile service with transmissions at mmWave bands.

3GPP has so far defined six mmWave bands.

Furthermore, mmWave beam management enhancements were defined in Release 16 with more anticipated in Release 17 (expected to be initially completed in 2022).

Release 16 not only introduced enhancements to 5G mobile broadband experiences (e.g., more capacity, improved coverage, mobility and better device power efficiency), but also expanded 5G technologies into new use cases and industries.

For example, to better enable new industrial IoT use cases, such as factory automation and other mission critical applications, Release 16 added support for private 5G networks, efficient wireless Ethernet over 5G, 5G Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and further enhanced ultra-reliable low latency communications.

Release 16 also fulfilled the 5G vision of supporting different spectrum types by expanding 5G into unlicensed spectrum with 5G NR Unlicensed (NR-U).

Release 16 NR-U focused on sub-7GHz operation, specifically 5GHz and 6GHz bands, and Release 17 will expand NR-U to support higher bands such as 60 GHz.

For example, to better enable new industrial IoT use cases, such as factory automation, Release 16 added support for private 5G networks, efficient wireless Ethernet over 5G, 5G Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and further enhanced ultra-reliable, low latency communications.

Release 16 also supports different spectrum types by expanding 5G into unlicensed spectrum with 5G NR Unlicensed (NR-U).

Release 16 NR-U focused on sub-7GHz operation (commonly referred to as sub-6, sub-7 or Frequency Range 1), specifically 5GHz and 6GHz bands, and Release 17 will expand NR-U to support higher bands such as 60GHz.

High-precision positioning was another focus area in Release 16.

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Amendments of the 802.11 standard are commonly referred to by the names made popular by the Wi-Fi Alliance (for example, 802.11ax is known as Wi-Fi 6).

Wi-Fi 6, a recent amendment to 802.11, adds advanced features such as downlink and uplink OFDMA and uplink multiple-user MIMO.

This technology primarily targets connectivity for mobile devices, tablets, laptops and other consumer electronic devices using the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrums.

Up to 1200MHz of new spectrum has been added in the 6GHz band in the United States, which triples the available spectrum for Wi-Fi, which can be used by new Wi-Fi 6 extended devices.

Wi-Fi 6 adds advanced features such as downlink and uplink OFDMA and uplink multiple-user MIMO.

This technology primarily targets connectivity for mobile devices, tablets, laptops and other consumer electronic devices using the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum bands.

1200MHz of new spectrum has been added in the 6GHz band in the United States, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and other countries, which triples the available spectrum for unlicensed technologies, such as Wi-Fi, which can be used by new Wi-Fi 6E devices.

Europe has added 480 MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz band for unlicensed operation.

For 60GHz mmWave technology, 802.11ay adds wider channel bandwidth and the use of MIMO to the existing 802.11ad (also known as Gigabit Wi-Fi or WiGig) standard.

802.11ah targets sub-1 GHz spectrum.

We played a leading role in the development of 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11ay, 802.11ah and 802.11ad, and continue to play a lead role in the evolution of the 802.11 family of standards with the development of the new 802.11be standard, which is expected to be known as Wi-Fi 7.

We played a leading role in the development of 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11ay, 802.11ah and 802.11ad, and continue to play a leading role in the evolution of the 802.11 family of standards with the development of the new 802.11be standard, which is expected to be known as Wi-Fi 7.

The 802.11be specification is expected to standardize technologies such as Multi-Link Operation, 4K QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation), wider channel bandwidth modes (up to 320 MHz) and low latency enhancements.

Bluetooth is a wireless personal area network that provides wireless connectivity between devices over short distances ranging from a few centimeters to approximately one hundred meters.

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Bluetooth functionalities are standardized by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group in various versions of the specification (from 1.0 to 5.3), which include different functionalities, such as enhanced data rate, low energy and mesh technologies.

We are a leading contributor to Bluetooth technologies in the areas of mobile devices, audio and mesh technologies.

We are a leading contributor to Bluetooth technologies in the areas of mobile devices and audio and mesh technologies.

Location Positioning Technologies.

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For uses requiring the best reliability and accuracy for E911 services and navigational based services, A-GPS, A-GNSS and WLAN provide leading-edge solutions.

In 3GPP Release 16, we led the standardization of many 4G and 5G-based positioning capabilities.

We continue to invest in the standardization and productization of many 4G- and 5G-based positioning capabilities, including in 3GPP Release 16.

The industry continues to evolve to support additional inputs for improving the location experience.

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GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, NavIC and BeiDou;

Wi-Fi-based and Bluetooth-based positioning for WLAN, including Wi-Fi RSSI (received signal strength indication) and Wi-Fi RTT (round-trip time) signals for indoor location;

Wi-Fi-based and Bluetooth-based positioning for WLAN, including Wi-Fi RSSI (received signal strength

indication) and Wi-Fi RTT (round-trip time) signals for indoor location;

observed time difference of arrival positioning for LTE access (e.g., in rural and indoor areas);

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Other Significant Technologies used in Cellular and Certain Consumer Electronic Devices and Networks .

We have played and continue to play a leading role in developing and/or have acquired many of the other technologies used across the wireless system, including in cellular handsets and certain other consumer electronic devices and networks, such as:

• on-device AI features, including machine learning platforms and the application of AI and machine learning techniques to edge computing and other use cases;

• graphics and display processing functionality;

• video coding based on the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec) standard, which is being deployed to support 4K video and immersive media content and the next generation VVC (Versatile Video Codec) standard, which is designed to power the creation and consumption of rich digital media experiences;

• video coding based on the HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) standard, which is being deployed to support 4K video and immersive media content, the next generation VVC (Versatile Video Coding) and the MPEG-5 EVC (Essential Video Coding) standard, which is designed to power the creation and consumption of rich digital media experiences;

• audio coding, including EVS (enhanced voice services) and MPEG-H 3D Audio;

• the latest version of 3GPP’s codec for multimedia use and for voice/speech use;

• multimedia transport, including MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) enabling advanced multimedia experiences;

• camera and camcorder functions;

• camera functions;

• operating system and user interface features;

• AR/VR/XR features enabling new types of user experiences;

• XR platform features such as 6DoF (six-degrees of freedom) head tracking and controller capabilities, 3D Reconstruction, 3D audio and video pass-through, and embedded cellular connectivity for new types of user experiences;

• security and content protection systems for enhanced device security without compromising the user experience and ultrasonic fingerprint readers for single touch authentication;

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• fast charging features, enabling devices to charge quickly, safely and efficiently;

• Qualcomm® Smart Transmit™ technology, a modem-to-antenna technology that optimizes data speeds while complying with RF transmit power limits;

• power management systems for improved battery life and device charging;

• System on Chip (SoC) architecture, low-power computing and other optimization techniques.

• System on Chip (SoC) architecture with heterogeneous computing features, which uses different types of specialized engines (Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)) to enable high performance and low-power computing and other optimization techniques.

We make strategic investments and acquisitions to:

open new opportunities for our technologies, supporting the design and introduction of new products and services (or enhancing existing products or services);

obtain development resources;

grow our patent portfolio;

or pursue new businesses as part of our strategic plan.

Information regarding acquisitions is provided in this Annual Report in “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 9.

Acquisitions” and “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 12.

Subsequent Events.”

Operating Segments

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We conduct business primarily through QCT and QTL, while QSI makes strategic investments.

Revenues in fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018 for our reportable segments were as follows (in millions, except percentages):

2020 2019 2018

QCT $ 16,493 $ 14,639 $ 17,282

As a percent of total 70 % 60 % 76 %

QTL $ 5,028 $ 4,591 $ 5,042

As a percent of total 21 % 19 % 22 %

QSI $ 36 $ 152 $ 100

As a percent of total — % 1 % — %

QCT is a leading developer and supplier of integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies for use in wireless voice and data communications, networking, application processing, multimedia and global positioning system products.

QCT’s integrated circuit products are sold and its system software is licensed to manufacturers that use our products in a broad range of devices, from low-tier, entry-level devices primarily for emerging regions to premium-tier devices, including mobile devices (primarily smartphones), tablets, laptops, data modules, handheld wireless computers and gaming devices, other consumer electronics, other IoT devices and applications, automotive systems for telematics and infotainment, access points and routers, broadband gateway equipment, data cards and infrastructure equipment and sensor hubs.

Additional information regarding our operating segments is provided in this Annual Report in “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 8.

Segment Information.”

QCT’s integrated circuit products are sold and its system software is licensed to manufacturers that use our products in a broad range of devices, from low-tier, entry-level devices primarily for emerging regions to premium-tier devices, including but not limited to mobile devices (primarily smartphones), tablets, laptops, XR headsets, data modules, gaming devices, voice and music devices, wearable devices, wireless access points and routers, broadband gateway equipment, data cards and infrastructure equipment, sensor hubs and other industrial equipment and automotive systems for telematics, connectivity and digital cockpit.

Our 3G/4G/5G modem roadmap delivers the latest network technologies across multiple product tiers and devices.

This roadmap is the result of extensive collaboration with manufacturers, operators, developers, systems integrators, cloud providers, governments and industry standards organizations, as well as our years of research into emerging network standards and the development of integrated circuits that take advantage of these new standards, while maintaining backward compatibility with existing standards.

The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ family of highly-integrated, system-based solutions include the Snapdragon mobile, compute and automotive platforms.

Each platform consists of application processors and wireless connectivity capabilities, including our cellular modem that provides core baseband modem functionality for voice and data communications, non-cellular wireless connectivity (such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and global positioning functions.

Our Snapdragon application processor functions include security, graphics, display, audio, video, camera and AI.

Our central processing units are designed based on ARM architecture and are designed to deliver high levels of compute performance with optimized power consumption.

This roadmap is the result of extensive collaboration with manufacturers, operators, developers, systems integrators, cloud providers, tool vendors, service providers, governments and industry standards organizations, as well as our years of research into emerging network standards and the development of integrated circuits, that takes advantage of these new standards, while maintaining backward compatibility with existing standards.

We have leveraged and expect to continue to leverage the foundational technologies initially developed and commercialized for use in mobile handset devices, such as our core baseband modem and processor technologies and our other wireless connectivity products in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and precise positioning technologies, to extend into new product categories, industries and applications beyond mobile handsets, such as automotive and IoT (which includes the industries and applications of consumer, industrial and edge networking).

The Snapdragon family of highly integrated, system-based solutions include the Snapdragon mobile, compute, sound and automotive platforms.

connectivity (such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and global positioning functions.

Our Snapdragon application processor functions include CPU, security, graphics, display, audio, video, camera and AI.

Our CPUs are designed based on the ARM architecture and are designed to deliver high levels of compute performance with optimized power consumption.

Our Qualcomm ® Hexagon™ processors are designed to support a variety of signal processing applications, including AI, audio and sensor processing.

Our Qualcomm ® Adreno™ graphics processing units are designed to deliver high quality graphics performance for visually rich 3D gaming and user interfaces.

In addition to the highly integrated core system-on-chip (SoC), we also design and supply supporting components, including the RF, PM (power management), audio, codecs, speaker amps and additional wireless connectivity integrated circuits.

In addition to the highly integrated core SoC, we also design and supply supporting components, including the RF transceiver, PM (power management), audio, codecs, speaker amps and additional wireless connectivity integrated circuits.

These supporting components, in addition to our cellular modems and application processors comprising our core SoC, are also sold as individual components.

combination of the Snapdragon SoC, system software and supporting components provide an overall platform with optimized performance and efficiency, enabling manufacturers to design and deliver powerful, slim and power-efficient devices ready for integration with the complex cellular networks worldwide.

We have also integrated our Snapdragon platform with our RFFE components to create our Snapdragon 5G modem-RF systems, the world’s first commercial modem-to-antenna 5G solution designed to maximize data speeds and performance, support superior call connectivity and coverage, and extend battery life on mobile devices.

The combination of the Snapdragon SoC, system software and supporting components provide an overall platform with optimized performance and efficiency, enabling manufacturers to design and deliver powerful, slim and power-efficient devices ready for integration with the complex cellular networks worldwide.

Our portfolio of RF products includes Qualcomm ® RFFE components that are designed to simplify the RF design for 5G front-end, LTE multimode and multiband mobile devices, including sub-6 GHz and mmWave devices, to reduce power consumption and to improve radio performance.

QCT offers an advanced portfolio of RFFE products primarily for mobile devices, in addition to broadband gateway equipment, infrastructure equipment, laptops, automotive, industrial IoT and other IoT applications.

Our technologies provide comprehensive RFFE product offerings with system level performance from the modem and transceiver to the antenna that include complex 4G/5G transmit and receive modules, power tracking, tuning systems, filtering, multimode-multiband power amplification, low noise amplifiers and mmWave antenna solutions, in addition to discrete filtering products across mobile, automotive, industrial IoT and other IoT industries.

We provide comprehensive RFFE product offerings with system level performance from the modem and transceiver to the antenna that include complex 4G/5G transmit and receive modules, power tracking, tuning systems, multimode-multiband power amplification, low noise amplifiers and mmWave antenna solutions, in addition to discrete filtering products, for devices and applications across the mobile handsets, automotive and IoT industries.

We have also integrated our Snapdragon platform with our RFFE components to create our Snapdragon 5G modem-RF products, the world’s first commercial modem-to-antenna 5G solution designed to maximize data speeds and performance, support superior call connectivity and coverage and extend battery life.

Our wireless connectivity products also consist of integrated circuits and system software for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and frequency modulation (FM), as well as technologies that support location data and services, including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, NavIC and BeiDou.

Our wireless connectivity products provide additional connectivity for mobile devices, tablets, laptops, other consumer electronics, other IoT applications and automotive telematics and infotainment systems.

QCT also offers standalone Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, fingerprint sensor, applications processor and Ethernet products for mobile devices, consumer electronics, computers, other IoT applications, other connected devices and automotive telematics and infotainment systems.

Our networking products include Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Powerline chips, network processors and software.

Our wireless connectivity products provide additional connectivity for mobile devices, tablets, laptops, XR headsets, voice and music devices, wearable devices, automotive telematics, digital cockpit, utility meters, logistic trackers and industrial sensors, in addition to other IoT devices and applications.

QCT also offers standalone Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, fingerprint sensor, applications processor and Ethernet products utilized within these devices and systems.

Our networking products include Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Powerline chips, network processors, wireless access points and routers, broadband gateway equipment and software.

These products help enable home and business networks to support the growing number of connected devices, digital media and data services.

Other than for our RFFE modules and RF filter products, QCT utilizes a fabless production model, which means that we do not own or operate foundries for the production of silicon wafers from which our integrated circuits are made.

Other than for certain of our RFFE modules and RF filter products, QCT utilizes a fabless production model, which means that we do not own or operate foundries for the production of silicon wafers from which our integrated circuits are made.

Therefore, we primarily rely on third parties to perform the manufacturing and assembly, and most of the testing, of our integrated circuits based primarily on our proprietary designs and test programs.

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The majority of our foundry and semiconductor assembly and test suppliers are located in the Asia-Pacific region.

QCT primarily uses internal fabrication facilities to manufacture RFFE modules and RF filter products, and its manufacturing operations consist of front-end and back-end processes.

QCT primarily uses internal fabrication facilities to manufacture certain RFFE modules and RF filter products, and its manufacturing operations consist of front-end and back-end processes.

The front-end processes primarily take place at manufacturing facilities located in Germany and Singapore and involve the imprinting of substrate wafers with the structure and circuitry required for the products to function (also known as wafer fabrication).

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The back-end manufacturing facilities are located in China and Singapore.

QCT’s sales are primarily made through standard purchase orders for delivery of products.

QCT’s sales are primarily made through a purchase order and order confirmation process for delivery of products.

QCT generally allows customers to reschedule delivery dates within a defined time frame and to cancel orders prior to shipment with or without payment of a penalty, depending on when the order is canceled.

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and international designers and manufacturers of semiconductors.

As a result of global expansion by foreign and domestic competitors, technological changes, lengthening replacement cycles for mobile devices, device manufacturer concentrations and the potential for further industry consolidation, we anticipate the industry to remain very competitive.

We believe that the principal competitive factors for our products include performance, level of integration, quality, compliance with industry standards, price, time-to-market, system cost, design and engineering capabilities, new product innovation, growth and scaling of distribution channels, desire by certain customers to use multiple suppliers and customer support.

As a result of global expansion by foreign and domestic competitors, technological changes, device manufacturer concentrations, limited global supply capacity, vertical integration and the potential for further industry consolidation, we anticipate the industry to remain very competitive.

certain customers to use multiple suppliers and customer support.

QCT also competes in both single-mode and multimode environments against alternative communications technologies.

Additional competitive factors exist for QCT product offerings that have expanded into adjacent industry segments or applications beyond mobile, including automotive and IoT.

Additional competitive factors exist for QCT product offerings that have expanded into industries and applications beyond mobile handsets, including automotive and IoT.

The automotive industry is subject to long design-in time frames, long product life cycles and a high degree of regulatory and safety requirements, necessitating suppliers to the industry to comply with stringent qualification processes, very low defect rates and high reliability standards, all of which results in a significant barrier to entry and may result in increased costs.

QCT’s current competitors include, but are not limited to, companies such as Broadcom, HiSilicon, MediaTek, Nvidia, NXP Semiconductors, Qorvo, Samsung, Skyworks, Texas Instruments and UNISOC (formally known as Spreadtrum Communications).

QCT also faces competition from products internally developed by our customers, including some of our largest customers, and from some early-stage companies.

QCT’s current competitors include, but are not limited to, companies such as Broadcom, MediaTek, Nvidia, NXP Semiconductors, Qorvo, Samsung, Skyworks, Texas Instruments and UNISOC.

QCT currently faces competition, which may intensify in the future, from products internally developed by our customers, including some of our largest customers, and from some early-stage companies.

Our competitors devote significant amounts of their financial, technical and other resources to develop and market competitive products and, in some cases, to develop and adopt competitive digital communication or signal processing technologies, and those efforts may materially and adversely affect us.

Although we have attained a significant position in the wireless industry, many of our current and potential competitors may have advantages over us that include, among others:

motivation by our customers in certain circumstances to use our competitors’ integrated circuit products, to utilize their own internally-developed integrated circuit products, or sell such products to others, or to utilize alternative technologies;

lower cost structures or a willingness and ability to accept lower prices or lower margins for their products, particularly in China;

foreign government support of other technologies, competitors or OEMs that sell devices that do not contain our integrated circuit products;

better known brand names;

ownership and control of manufacturing facilities and greater expertise in manufacturing processes;

more extensive relationships with local distribution companies and OEMs in certain geographic regions (such as China);

more experience in adjacent industry segments or applications beyond mobile (such as automotive and IoT);

and a more established presence in certain regions.

Although we have attained a significant position in the wireless industry, many of our current and potential competitors may have advantages over us.

These and other risks related to competition are more fully described in the Risk Factors entitled “ Our industry is subject to intense competition in an environment of rapid technological change.

Our success depends in part on our ability to adapt to such change and compete effectively;

and such change and competition could result in decreased demand for our products and technologies or declining average selling prices for our products or those of our customers or licensees” and “Our business, particularly our semiconductor business, may suffer as a result of our customers vertically integrating (i.e., developing their own integrated circuit products).”

QTL Segment .

QTL grants licenses or otherwise provides rights to use portions of our intellectual property portfolio, which, among other rights, includes certain patent rights essential to and/or useful in the manufacture, sale and/or use of certain wireless products, including, without limitation, products implementing CDMA2000, WCDMA, CDMA TDD, LTE and/or OFDMA-based 5G standards and their derivatives.

We grant licenses or otherwise provide rights to use our cellular standard-essential patents (including 3G, 4G and 5G) for both single-mode and multimode devices on a worldwide basis, and our standard practice in China is to offer our cellular standard-essential Chinese patents (for 3G, 4G and, now, 5G) for devices sold for use in China separately from our other patents.

QTL grants licenses or otherwise provides rights to use portions of our intellectual property portfolio, which, among other rights, includes certain patent rights essential to and/or useful in the manufacture, sale and/or use of certain wireless products, including, without limitation, products implementing CDMA2000, WCDMA, LTE and/or OFDMA-based 5G standards and their derivatives.

We grant licenses or otherwise provide rights to use our cellular standard-essential patents (including 3G, 4G and 5G) for both single-mode and multimode devices on a worldwide basis.

We also offer licenses to our cellular standard-essential patents together with other Qualcomm patents that may be useful to such licensed products for licensees that desire to obtain the commercial benefits of receiving such broad patent rights from us.

Since 2018, an increasing number of new and existing licensees have elected to enter into worldwide license agreements covering only our cellular standard-essential patents.

Going forward, we continue to anticipate that a significant portion of QTL’s licensing revenues will be derived from licensees that have entered into license agreements covering only Qualcomm’s cellular standard-essential patents.

Our licensees manufacture wireless products including mobile devices (including handsets), other consumer devices (e.g., tablets and laptops), plug-in end user data modem cards and embedded modules for incorporation into machine-to-machine devices and certain end user products (excluding handsets and tablets), as well as infrastructure equipment required to establish and operate a network and equipment to test networks and cellular devices.

While we offer license rights to patents that we do not have a duty or obligation to grant, those rights may be negotiated at our discretion.

A significant portion of QTL’s licensing revenues is derived from licensees that have entered into license agreements that grant licenses under Qualcomm’s cellular standard-essential patents.

Our licensees manufacture wireless cellular products such as mobile devices (including handsets), other consumer devices (e.g., tablets and laptops), plug-in end user data modem cards and embedded modules for incorporation into machine-to-machine devices and certain end user products (excluding handsets, tablets and laptops), connected vehicle units and connected vehicle modules used in automobiles, wireless access points, small cell wireless products, infrastructure equipment required to establish and operate a cellular network and equipment to test wireless networks and cellular devices.

Since our founding in 1985, we have focused heavily on technology development and innovation.

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Our patents have broad coverage in many countries, including Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States and countries in Europe.

A substantial portion of our patents and patent applications relate to digital wireless communications technologies, including patents that are essential or may be important to the commercial implementation of CDMA2000, WCDMA (UMTS), TD-SCDMA, TD-CDMA (Time Division CDMA), OFDMA-based LTE and OFDMA-based 5G products.

Our patent portfolio is the most widely and extensively licensed in the industry, with more than 300 licensees.

Additionally, we have a substantial patent portfolio related to key technologies used in communications and other devices and/or related services, some of which were developed in industry standards development bodies.

Our patent portfolio is the most widely and extensively licensed in the industry, including more than 150 5G license agreements to date.

These include certain video codecs, audio codecs, Wi-Fi, memory interfaces, wireless power, GPS and positioning, broadcast and streaming protocols, and short-range communication functionalities, including NFC and Bluetooth.

Our patents cover a wide range of technologies across the entire wireless system, including the device (handsets and other wireless devices), not just the portion of such patented technologies incorporated into chipsets, and the network.

Our patents cover a wide range of technologies across the entire wireless system (including wireless devices and network infrastructure equipment), not just the portion of such patented technologies incorporated into chipsets.

Over the years, a number of companies have challenged our patent position, but companies in the mobile communications industry generally recognize that any company seeking to develop, manufacture and/or sell certain wireless products that use CDMA-based and/or OFDMA-based technologies will require a license or other rights to use our patents.

We have licensed or otherwise provided rights to use our patents to hundreds of companies on industry-accepted terms.

Unlike some other companies in our industry that hold back certain key technologies, we offer companies substantially our entire patent portfolio for use in cellular devices and cell site infrastructure equipment.

Our strategy to make our patented technologies broadly available has been a catalyst for industry growth, helping to enable a wide range of companies offering a broad array of wireless products and features while increasing the capabilities of and/or driving down average and low-end selling prices for 3G and 3G/4G multimode handsets and other wireless devices.

By licensing or otherwise providing rights to use our patents to a wide range of equipment manufacturers, encouraging innovative applications, supporting equipment manufacturers with integrated chipset and software products and focusing on improving the efficiency of the airlink for wireless operators, we have helped 3G and 3G/4G multimode evolve and grow and reduce device pricing.

5G network deployments and commercial 3G/4G/5G multimode device sales began in 2019 and continued throughout 2020.

By licensing or otherwise providing rights to use our patents to a wide range of equipment manufacturers, 5G will continue to encourage innovative applications through enhanced mobile broadband services with lower latency and multi-gigabit user data speeds and bring more capacity and efficiency to wireless networks.

By licensing or otherwise providing rights to use our patents to a wide range of equipment manufacturers, encouraging innovative applications, supporting equipment manufacturers with integrated chipset and software products and focusing on improving the efficiency of the airlink for wireless operators, we have helped multimode device capabilities evolve, grow demand and reduce device pricing.

5G network deployments and commercial 3G/4G/5G multimode device sales began in 2019 and have continued.

By licensing or otherwise providing rights to use our patents to a wide range of equipment manufacturers, we are supporting the global rollout and availability of 5G technology.

We believe that 5G will continue to encourage innovative applications through enhanced mobile broadband services with lower latency and multi-gigabit user data speeds and bring more capacity and efficiency to wireless networks.

Upon the initial deployment of OFDMA-based networks, the products implementing such technologies generally have been multimode and implement OFDMA-based and CDMA-based technologies.

The licenses granted under our existing license agreements generally cover multimode CDMA/OFDMA (3G/4G/5G) devices, and our licensees are obligated to pay royalties under their license agreements for such devices.

Standards bodies have been informed that we hold:

patents that might be essential for all 3G standards that are based on CDMA;

Standards bodies have been informed that we hold patents that might be essential for all 3G standards that are based on CDMA;

patents and pending patent applications that are potentially essential for LTE standards, including FDD and TDD versions;

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Sales-based royalties are generally based upon a percentage of the wholesale (i.e., licensee’s) selling price of complete licensed products, net of certain permissible deductions (including transportation, insurance, packing costs and other items).

We broadly provide per unit royalty caps that apply to certain categories of complete wireless devices, namely smartphones, tablets, laptops and smartwatches, and provide for a maximum royalty amount payable per device.

We broadly provide per unit royalty caps that apply to certain categories of complete wireless devices, namely smartphones, tablets, laptops and smartwatches, and which provide for a maximum royalty amount payable per device.

For certain non-handset product categories, including automotive, we charge a fixed royalty amount per unit.

Revenues generated from royalties are subject to quarterly and annual fluctuations.

The vast majority of QTL revenues have been generated through our licensees’ sales of CDMA2000-based, WCDMA-based and OFDMA-based products (including 3G, 3G/4G and 3G/4G/5G multimode devices), such as smartphones and feature phones.

The vast majority of QTL revenues have been generated through our licensees’ sales of CDMA-based (including, but not limited to WCDMA-based) and OFDMA-based products (including 3G, 3G/4G and 3G/4G/5G multimode devices), such as smartphones and other devices.

We have invested and continue to invest in both the acquisition and development of OFDMA technology and intellectual property and have generated the industry leading patent portfolio applicable to LTE, LTE Advanced, LTE Advanced Pro and 5G-NR.

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A principal purpose of these arrangements is to provide our QCT segment and the counterparties certain freedom of operation with respect to each party’s integrated circuits business.

In every case, these agreements expressly reserve the right for QTL to seek royalties from the customers of such integrated circuit suppliers with respect to such suppliers’ customers’ sales of CDMA-, WCDMA- and OFDMA-based wireless devices into which such suppliers’ integrated circuits are incorporated.

In every case, these agreements expressly reserve the right for QTL to seek royalties from the customers of such integrated circuit suppliers with respect to such suppliers’ customers’ sales of CDMA-based (including, but not limited to WCDMA-based) and OFDMA-based wireless devices into which such suppliers’ integrated circuits are incorporated.

Our license agreements also may provide us with rights to use certain of our licensees’ technology and intellectual property to manufacture, sell and/or use certain components (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits) and related software, cellular devices and/or infrastructure equipment.

We are currently subject to certain governmental investigations and private legal proceedings challenging our patent licensing practices, including those described in this Annual Report under the heading “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 7.

We have been in the past and are currently subject to certain legal proceedings challenging our patent licensing practices, including those described in this Annual Report under the heading “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 7.

Commitments and Contingencies,” which may require us to change our patent licensing practices as described more fully herein in “Part I, Item 1A.

Risk Factors” under the heading “ Changes in our patent licensing practices, whether due to governmental investigations or private legal proceedings challenging those practices, or otherwise, could adversely impact our business and results of operations.

Risk Factors” under the heading “ Changes in our patent licensing practices, whether due to governmental investigations, legal challenges or otherwise, could adversely impact our business and results of operations.

QSI makes strategic investments primarily through our Qualcomm Ventures arm that are focused on expanding or opening new opportunities for our technologies as well as supporting the design and introduction of new products and services (or enhancing existing products or services).

Many of these strategic investments are in early-stage companies in a variety of industries and applications, including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence, automotive, digital healthcare, enterprise, IoT, mobile and networking.

Many of these strategic investments are in early-stage companies in a variety of industries and applications, including, but not limited to, 5G, AI, automotive, consumer, enterprise, cloud and IoT.

Investments primarily include non-marketable equity securities and, to a lesser extent, marketable equity securities (the majority of which resulted from initial public offerings of certain non-marketable equity investments) and convertible debt instruments.

In addition, QSI segment results include revenues and related costs associated with development contracts with one of our investees (OneWeb).

As part of our strategic investment activities, we intend to pursue various exit strategies for each of our QSI investments in the foreseeable future.

In addition, QSI segment results include revenues and related costs associated with development contracts with one of our investees.

As part of our strategic investment activities, we generally intend to pursue various exit strategies for each of our QSI investments in the foreseeable future.

Other Businesses.

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government agencies and their contractors.

Additional information regarding our operating segments is provided in this Annual Report in “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 8.

Segment Information.” Information regarding seasonality is provided in this Annual Report in “Part II, Item 7.

Information regarding seasonality is provided in this Annual Report in “Part II, Item 7.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the “Our Business and Operating Segments” section under the heading “Seasonality.”

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A small number of customers/licensees historically have accounted for a significant portion of our consolidated revenues.

In fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, revenues from Apple and its contract manufacturers, combined revenues from Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.

(Oppo) and BBK Communication Technology Co., Ltd.

(vivo), and their respective affiliates (including BBK), Samsung and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues.

Revenues from Huawei also comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues in fiscal 2020, which were positively impacted by the settlement of our prior dispute.

Revenues in fiscal 2018 were negatively impacted by our prior dispute with Apple and its contract manufacturers.

Additional information regarding the settlements is provided in this Annual Report in “Part II, Item 7.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

In fiscal 2021, revenues from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of our consolidated revenues.

Additional information regarding revenue concentrations is provided in this Annual Report in “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 1.

Significant Accounting Policies” and “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 8.

Segment Information.”

Research and Development

The wireless communications industry is characterized by rapid technological change, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and, with the introduction of 5G, the expansion into new industry segments or applications such as automotive and IoT, requiring a continuous effort to enhance existing products and technologies and to develop new products and technologies.

We have significant engineering resources, including engineers with substantial expertise in CDMA, OFDMA and a broad range of other technologies.

Using these engineering resources, we expect to continue to invest in research and development in a variety of ways in an effort to extend the demand for our products, and to utilize that research and development in adjacent industry segments or applications beyond mobile (such as automotive and IoT), including continuing the development of CDMA, OFDMA and other technologies (such as RFFE), developing alternative technologies for certain specialized applications, participating in the formulation of new voice and data communication standards and technologies, and assisting in deploying digital voice and data communications networks around the world.

The wireless communications industry is characterized by rapid technological change, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and, with the use of 5G, the expansion into new industries or applications such as automotive and IoT, requiring a continuous effort to enhance existing products and technologies and to develop new products and technologies.

We have significant engineering resources, including engineers with substantial expertise in modem technologies, radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), RFFE, multimedia (camera, video, display, computer vision), advanced SoC, which includes specialized engines, such as CPU and GPU, to enable high performance and low-power computing and other optimization techniques, AI, packaging, and a broad range of other technologies.

We expect to continue to invest in research and development in a variety of ways in an effort to extend the demand for our products and technologies and to utilize that research and development in industries and applications beyond mobile handsets (such as automotive and IoT), including continuing the development of new modem and multimedia technologies and other technologies (such as ADAS and XR), developing alternative technologies for certain specialized applications, participating in the formulation of new voice and data communication standards and technologies and assisting in deploying digital voice and data communications networks around the world.

Our research and development team has a demonstrated track record of innovation in voice and data communication technologies and application processor technology, among others.

We continue to invest significant resources towards advancements in OFDMA-based technologies and products (including LTE and 5G).

We also engage in acquisitions and other transactions, such as joint ventures, to meet certain technology needs, to obtain development resources or open or expand opportunities for our technologies and to support the design and introduction of new products and services (or enhancing existing products and services) for voice and data communications and new industry segments or applications beyond mobile.

We make investments to provide our integrated circuit customers with chipsets designed on leading-edge technology nodes that combine multiple technologies for use in consumer electronic devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops, AR/VR/XR devices) and other products (e.g., access points and routers, data cards and infrastructure equipment).

We make investments to provide our integrated circuit customers with chipsets designed on leading-edge technology nodes that combine multiple technologies for use in consumer electronic devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops, voice and music devices, wearable devices, XR devices) and other products (e.g., access points and routers, data cards and infrastructure equipment).

In addition to 3G, 4G and 5G technologies, our chipsets support other wireless and wired connectivity technologies, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, location positioning and Powerline communication.

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These innovations are expected to enable our customers to improve the performance or value of their existing services, offer these services more affordably and introduce revenue-generating broadband data services ahead of their competition.

We have research and development centers in various locations throughout the world that support our global development activities and ongoing efforts to develop and/or advance 4G, 5G and a broad range of other technologies.

We continue to use our substantial engineering resources and expertise to develop new technologies, applications and services and make them available to licensees to help grow the communications industry and generate new or expanded licensing opportunities.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing activities of our operating segments are discussed under Operating Segments.

Other marketing activities include public relations, branding, digital marketing and social media, technical marketing, product marketing, participation in technical conferences and trade shows, development of use cases and white papers, competitive analyses and industry intelligence and other marketing programs, such as co-marketing with our customers or licensees.

Our Corporate Marketing department provides information on our company website and through other channels regarding our products, strategies and technology to investors, industry analysts, media, prospective job applicants, consumers and others.

Competition faced by our operating segments is discussed under Operating Segments.

Competition in the wireless communications industry throughout the world continues to increase at a rapid pace as consumers, businesses and governments realize the potential of wireless communications products and services.

We expect competition to increase as our current competitors expand their product offerings and introduce new technologies and services in the future and as additional companies compete with our products and/or services based on 3G, 4G, 5G and/or other technologies.

Although we intend to continue to make substantial investments in developing new products and technologies and improving existing products and technologies to strengthen and/or maintain our competitive position, our competitors may introduce alternative products, services or technologies that threaten our business.

It is also possible that the prices we charge for our products and services may continue to decline as competition continues to intensify.

See also the Risk Factor entitled “ Our industry is subject to intense competition in an environment of rapid technological change.

Our success depends in part on our ability to adapt to such change and compete effectively;

and such change and competition could result in decreased demand for our products and technologies or declining average selling prices for our products or those of our customers or licensees.”

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Human Capital

For decades, our innovations have helped transform industries, enhance the lives of billions of people and address some of society’s biggest challenges.

For decades, our innovations have helped transform industries, enhance people’s lives and address some of society’s biggest challenges.

With the world becoming increasingly connected, we have a tremendous opportunity to shape a better future.

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As such, our corporate responsibility vision is to be a facilitator of innovation for a sustainable world, connected wirelessly.

We have integrated corporate responsibility throughout our business, from our daily operations to our executive leadership and our Board of Directors (Board).

The Governance Committee of our Board provides oversight on corporate

responsibility matters, including ESG policies, programs and initiatives, and the HR and Compensation Committee of our Board provides oversight on our workforce diversity and inclusion programs and initiatives.

Our Corporate Responsibility Leadership Committee, composed of executives and senior management, provides guidance on global corporate responsibility issues.

Our Corporate Responsibility Governance Committee implements directives from the Corporate Responsibility Leadership Committee, measures progress on achieving our goals, and reports to management on accomplishments and challenges.

Our sustained investment in R&D has helped revolutionize the way people connect;

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We focus our efforts in four key areas where we believe we can have the biggest impact:

• Responsible Business.

We integrate responsible and sustainable practices throughout our organization.

Our products are designed to not harm individuals, communities or the environment.

We continually look for ways to conserve water, minimize energy consumption, lower emissions and reduce waste.

Because privacy and security are critical for success in the wireless industry, we constantly seek to promote data protection across the mobile ecosystem.

• Purposeful Innovation.

We invent breakthrough technologies by building on our legacy of technology leadership with 5G, which we believe will serve as the technological foundation for connected cars, industrial IoT, smart homes and cities, networking and mobility, among others.

Our 5G technology advancements are helping transform industries, like telemedicine and remote education, and driving efficiencies with always-connected devices.

We believe that 5G can also help manage and improve the sustainability trajectory of our planet in key areas such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water use, reduction of pesticides and energy efficiency, while providing an inherently lower CO2 footprint than previous network deployments.

Through our Qualcomm ® Wireless Reach™ program (Wireless Reach), we work to broaden our impact by bringing advanced wireless technologies to underserved communities around the world.

Further, through the Qualcomm Small Business Accelerator Program, we have provided technology and support to U.S.-based small businesses in various industries to help them transition to a mobile-first remote work environment.

• Our People.

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We celebrate diversity among our workforce and recognize that our varied backgrounds, experiences and ideas are critical to innovation.

We foster inclusive practices in our operations around the world in order to reflect the communities in which we do business.

• Purposeful Innovation.

We invent breakthrough technologies that enable life-changing products and experiences.

We’re building on our legacy of technology leadership with 5G, which we believe will serve as the technological foundation for connected cars, industrial IoT, smart homes and cities, networking and mobility.

We also work to broaden our impact by bringing advanced wireless technologies to underserved communities around the world.

In doing so, we believe that we have enriched the lives of millions of people while creating new opportunities for our business.

We seek to foster inclusive teams and educate and train employees and leaders on the importance of driving diversity.

We also engage our global workforce through giving and outreach efforts to support and enrich the communities where we live and work.

• STEM Education.

We seek to inspire the next generation of inventors and advance workforce development for STEM-related careers (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Our initiatives are designed to promote and improve STEM education at all levels and to expand opportunities for underrepresented students.

We encourage you to review our March 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report (located on our Internet site at www.qualcomm.com) for more detailed information regarding our ESG programs and initiatives.

Nothing on our website, including our Corporate Responsibility Report or sections thereof, shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is the foundation for everything we do.

It supports the brainpower behind the breakthrough technologies and inventions we bring to life.

As technology leaders and a company of inventors, we are committed to providing tomorrow’s workforce with the skills and knowledge to solve global challenges.

Our initiatives are designed to promote and improve STEM education and to expand opportunities for underrepresented students.

• Responsible Business.

We strive to integrate responsible and sustainable practices throughout our organization.

We continually look for ways to conserve water, minimize energy consumption, lower emissions and reduce waste.

We prioritize transparency in our actions and reporting, including reporting on our ESG risks and opportunities using the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures), SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) and GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) frameworks in our Qualcomm Corporate Responsibility Report (located on our website).

Because privacy and cybersecurity are critical for success in the wireless industry, we seek to promote data protection across the mobile ecosystem.

Further, we are committed to respecting all internationally recognized human rights and avoiding complicity in any human rights abuse, upholding adherence to our Supplier Code of Conduct in our extended supply chain, being a global leader in ethical business conduct and engaging in discussions to advocate for policies that promote innovation as well as protect and foster new ideas in mobile communications.

In addition to the human capital goals discussed below, our 2025 Goals related to corporate responsibility include, among others:

• Reduce our absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 30% from global operations, compared to a 2014 baseline.

• Reduce power consumption by 10% every year in our flagship Snapdragon Mobile Platform products (given equivalent features).

• Ensure 100% of our primary semiconductor manufacturing suppliers are audited every 2-years for conformance to our Supplier Code of Conduct.

Net-Zero Global GHG Emissions Commitment.

In addition to our 2025 Goals , in November 2021, we announced plans to:

(1) reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 global GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 from 2020 base year;

(2) reduce absolute Scope 3 global GHG emissions by 25% by 2030 from 2020 base year;

and (3) reach net-zero global GHG emissions for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2040.

The foregoing discussion includes information regarding ESG matters that we believe may be of interest to our stockholders generally.

We recognize that certain other stakeholders (such as customers, employees and non-governmental organizations), as well as certain of our stockholders, may be interested in more detailed information on these topics.

We encourage you to review our most recent Qualcomm Corporate Responsibility Report (located on our website) for more

detailed information regarding our Corporate Responsibility and ESG governance, goals, priorities, accomplishments and initiatives;

a 5G and sustainability report, Environmental Sustainability and a Greener Economy:

The Transformative Role of 5G (also located on our website) for additional information regarding our views on climate change, environmental sustainability and the role of 5G in enabling a more sustainable future;

as well as the Corporate Governance section of our most recent Proxy Statement, and our Corporate Governance Principles and Practices (located on our website), for additional information regarding governance matters, including Board and Committee leadership, oversight, roles and responsibilities, and Director independence, tenure, refreshment and diversity.

Nothing on our website, including the aforementioned reports, documents or sections thereof, shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

Human Capital

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Our global workforce is highly educated, with the substantial majority of our employees working in engineering or technical roles (many of whom help develop foundational technologies for both our QCT semiconductor business and our QTL licensing business).

During fiscal 2020, our voluntary turnover rate was less than 5%, below the

technology industry benchmark, which is comprised of certain of our key competitors (Aon, 2020 Salary Increase and Turnover Study — Second Edition, September 2020).

During fiscal 2021, our voluntary turnover rate was less than 7%, below the technology industry benchmark, which is comprised of certain of our key competitors (Aon, 2021 Salary Increase and Turnover Study - Second Edition, September 2021).

Diversity and Inclusion.

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and identifying strategic partners to accelerate our inclusion and diversity programs.

We have a number of employee networks that enhance our inclusive and diverse culture, including those supporting Women, Africans and African Americans, Latinos, Veterans, the LGBTQ+ community and employees with disabilities.

We have employee networks that enhance our inclusive and diverse culture, including global network groups focused on supporting women, LGBTQ+ employees and employees with disabilities, in addition to U.S.-based employee networks that focus on Black and African American employees, Hispanic and Latinx employees and U.S.

military members and veterans.

We continue to recruit technical talent in diverse communities, including by engaging as a high-level sponsor of professional conferences, such as the Grace Hopper Celebration, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Convention and the National Society of Black Engineers National Convention.

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Through our collaboration with Disability:IN’s Inclusion Works program, we have increased our ability to address the needs of individuals with disabilities.

In an effort to provide additional transparency into our efforts to increase underrepresented populations in our workforce, we intend to disclose our 2020 Consolidated EEO-1 Report after our submission of the report to the U.S.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

From a governance perspective, our HR and Compensation Committee, through its charter, provides oversight of our policies, programs and initiatives focusing on workforce diversity and inclusion.

We publish our most recent Consolidated EEO-1 reports on our website to provide additional transparency into our efforts to increase underrepresented populations in our workforce.

From a governance perspective, the HR and Compensation Committee of our Board, through its charter, provides oversight of our policies, programs and initiatives focusing on workforce diversity and inclusion.

Health, Safety and Wellness.

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Accordingly, we are committed to the health, safety and wellness of our employees.

We provide our employees and their families with access to a variety of innovative, flexible and convenient health and wellness programs, including benefits that provide protection and security so they can have peace of mind concerning events that may require time away from work or that impact their financial well-being;

We provide our employees and their families with access to a variety of innovative, flexible and convenient health and wellness programs, including benefits that provide protection and security concerning events that may require time away from work or that impact their financial well-being;

that support their physical and mental health by providing tools and resources to help them improve or maintain their health status and encourage engagement in healthy behaviors;

and that offer choice where possible so they can customize their benefits to meet their needs and the needs of their families.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented significant changes that we determined were in the best interest of our employees, as well as the communities in which we operate, and which comply with government regulations.

This includes having the vast majority of our employees work from home, while implementing additional safety measures for employees continuing critical on-site work.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, we implemented significant changes that we determined were in the best interest of our employees, as well as the communities in which we operate, and which comply with government regulations.

This included having the vast majority of our employees work from home, while implementing additional safety measures for employees continuing critical on-site work.

We introduced our Live+Well, Work+Well program, designed to

help cultivate a productive work environment, while also focusing on our employees’ wellbeing.

We have commenced a phased approach to returning our employees onsite, which included modifications to certain of our existing office locations as we adapt to a hybrid work environment that provides flexibility, while maintaining our strong culture of innovation, collaboration, openness and camaraderie, in addition to a safe working environment for our employees.

We continue to monitor the state of the pandemic and gather additional feedback during the reopening of our offices to ensure the continued health, safety and wellness of our employees working onsite.

Compensation and Benefits.

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Through our engagement programs, our employees can pursue their interests and hobbies, connect to volunteering and giving opportunities and enjoy unique recreational experiences with family members.

Leveraging our partnerships with various local

arts and culture organizations, we have created numerous unique experiences for employees and their families around the world.

Leveraging our partnerships with various local arts and culture organizations, we have created numerous unique experiences for employees and their families around the world.

Since our employees are passionate about many causes, our corporate giving and volunteering programs support and encourage employees by engaging with those causes.

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Additionally, during fiscal 2021, thousands of our employees around the world utilized our charitable match program, benefiting more than 1,600 charitable organizations.

We encourage you to review the “Our People” section of our March 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report (located on our website) for more detailed information regarding our Human Capital programs and initiatives.

Nothing on our website, including our Corporate Responsibility Report or sections thereof, shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

We set the following 2025 Goals related to human capital, with a focus on diversity and inclusion:

• Increase women in leadership by 15% (defined as individuals at the principal and above level in technical roles, and director and above in non-technical roles).

• Increase underrepresented minorities (URM) in leadership by 15% (for technical positions, “URM” includes Black, Latinx, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Native American;

for non-technical positions, URM also includes Asian).

• Increase overall URM representation by 20%.

Human Capital Advancements Added to our Executive Compensation.

As previously disclosed in our 2021 Proxy Statement, and in response to stockholder feedback, our HR and Compensation Committee allocated 10% of our executives’ fiscal 2021 bonus to be based upon human capital advancements.

The HR and Compensation Committee then adopted a framework for human capital advancements to include advancement of our 2025 diversity and inclusion goals, workforce stability and responsiveness to COVID-19.

The foregoing discussion includes information regarding Human Capital matters that we believe may be of interest to stockholders generally.

We encourage you to review the “Our People” section of our most recent Qualcomm Corporate Responsibility Report (located on our website) for more detailed information regarding our Human Capital goals, programs and initiatives.

Nothing on our website, including our Consolidated EEO-1 reports, our Qualcomm Corporate Responsibility Report or sections thereof, shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

Available Information

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There we make available, free of charge, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and any amendments to those reports (among others), as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

We also make available on our Internet site public financial information for which a report is not required to be filed with or furnished to the SEC.

Our SEC reports and other financial information can be accessed through the investor relations section of our Internet site.

The information found on our Internet site is not part of this or any other report we file with or furnish to the SEC.

We also make available on our website public financial information for which a report is not required to be filed with or furnished to the SEC.

Our SEC reports and such other information can be accessed through the investor relations section of our website (https://investor.qualcomm.com/).

The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report we file with or furnish to the SEC.

Information about our Executive Officers

Our executive officers (and their ages at September 27, 2020) are as follows:

Steve Mollenkopf, age 51, has served as Chief Executive Officer since March 2014 and as a director since December 2013.

He served as Chief Executive Officer-elect and President from December 2013 to March 2014 and as President and Chief Operating Officer from November 2011 to December 2013.

In addition, he served as Executive Vice President and Group President from September 2010 to November 2011 and as Executive Vice President and President, QCT from August 2008 to September 2010.

Mollenkopf joined Qualcomm in 1994 as an engineer and throughout his tenure at Qualcomm has held several other technical and leadership roles.

Mollenkopf has been a member of the board of directors of Boeing Company since April 2020.

Mollenkopf served as a member of the board of directors of General Electric Company from November 2016 to April 2018.

Mollenkopf holds a B.S.

in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an M.S.

in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Heather Ace, age 50, has served as Executive Vice President, Human Resources since March 2020.

Our executive officers (and their ages as of November 1, 2021) are as follows:

Amon, age 51, has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a director since June 2021.

He served as President and Chief Executive Officer-elect from January 2021 to June 2021 and as President from January 2018 to January 2021.

He served as Executive Vice President, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (QTI), and President, QCT, from November 2015 to January 2018.

He served as Executive Vice President, QTI and Co-President, QCT from October 2012 to November 2015, Senior Vice President and Co-President, QCT from June 2012 to October 2012 and as Senior Vice President, QCT Product Management from October 2007 to June 2012, with responsibility for our product roadmap, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms.

Amon joined Qualcomm in 1995 as an engineer and throughout his tenure at Qualcomm has held several other technical and leadership positions.

Amon holds a B.S.

in Electrical Engineering and an honorary doctorate from UNICAMP, the State University of Campinas, Brazil.

Heather Ace, age 51, has served as Chief Human Resources Officer since March 2020.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Ms.

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from Santa Clara School of Law.

Amon, age 50, has served as President, Qualcomm Incorporated since January 2018.

He served as Executive Vice President, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (QTI), and President, QCT, from November 2015 to January 2018.

He served as Executive Vice President, QTI and Co-President, QCT from October 2012 to November 2015, Senior Vice President, Qualcomm Incorporated and Co-President, QCT from June 2012 to October 2012 and as Senior Vice President, QCT Product Management from October 2007 to June 2012, with responsibility for QTI’s product roadmap, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms.

Amon joined Qualcomm in 1995 as an engineer and throughout his tenure at Qualcomm has held several other technical and leadership positions.

Amon holds a B.S.

in Electrical Engineering and an honorary doctorate from UNICAMP, the State University of Campinas, Brazil.

Modoff, age 61, has served as Executive Vice President, Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions, which includes responsibility for Qualcomm Ventures, since October 2015.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Mr.

Modoff was a Managing Director in Equity Research at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., a provider of financial services, from March 1999 to October 2015.

Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr.

Modoff was a research analyst at several financial institutions from November 1993 to March 1999.

Modoff previously worked in defense electronics, including at Rockwell International in manufacturing management, and for the U.S.

Navy as a communications technician.

Modoff holds a B.A.

in Economics from California State University, Fullerton and a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Akash Palkhiwala, age 45, has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since November 2019.

Ann Cathcart Chaplin, age 48, has served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since November 2021.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Ms.

Chaplin served at General Motors Company as Corporate Secretary and Deputy General Counsel, U.S., Transformation Initiatives and Corporate Securities from February 2021 to November 2021, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, North America, Transformation Projects and Compliance from April 2019 to February 2021, Deputy General Counsel, Commercial, Transportation as a Service, Litigation and Regulation from January 2018 to April 2019, Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property, Regulation and Litigation from June 2017 to January 2018 and Deputy General Counsel, Litigation from December 2015 to June 2017.

Prior to General Motors, Ms.

Chaplin was Litigation Practice Group Leader/Litigation Equity Principal at the law firm of Fish & Richardson P.C.

from February 2001 to December 2015.

She began her career as an intellectual property litigation associate at the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP.

Chaplin holds a B.A in Sociology of Law from the University of Minnesota and a J.D.

from Harvard Law School.

Akash Palkhiwala, age 46, has served as Chief Financial Officer since November 2019.

He served as Senior Vice President and Interim Chief Financial Officer from August 2019 to November 2019.

He served as Senior Vice President, QCT Finance from December 2015 to August 2019 and Senior Vice President and Treasurer, Qualcomm Incorporated from October 2014 to December 2015.

Palkhiwala served as Vice President, QCT Finance from October 2012 to October 2014 and Vice President, QCT Finance from October 2009 to October 2012.

He served as Senior Vice President, QCT Finance, QTI from December 2015 to August 2019 and Senior Vice President and Treasurer from October 2014 to December 2015.

Palkhiwala served as Vice President, QCT Finance from October 2012 to October 2014 and Vice President, QCT Finance, QTI from October 2009 to October 2012.

He served in various other finance roles since joining Qualcomm in March 2001.

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College of Engineering in India and an M.B.A from the University of Maryland.

Rogers, age 63, has served as Executive Vice President and President, QTL since October 2016.

Rogers, age 64, has served as President, QTL and Global Affairs since June 2021.

He served as President, QTL from October 2016 to June 2021.

He served as Senior Vice President and President, QTL from September 2016 to October 2016, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and General Manager, QTL from March 2016 to September 2016, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel from October 2015 to March 2016 and Senior Vice President and Legal Counsel from April 2007 to October 2015.

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Rogers joined Qualcomm in January 2001 as an attorney.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Mr.

Rogers was a partner at the law firm of Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper), specializing in intellectual property and commercial litigation.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, he was a partner at the law firm of Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper), specializing in intellectual property and commercial litigation.

Rogers holds a B.A.

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from Georgetown University Law Center.

Rosenberg, age 69, has served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since October 2007.

He served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Apple Inc.

from November 2006 to October 2007.

From May 1975 to November 2006, Mr.

Rosenberg held numerous positions at IBM Corporation, including Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

Rosenberg has served as a member of the board of directors of NuVasive, Inc.

since February 2016.

Rosenberg holds a B.S.

in Mathematics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a J.D.

John’s University School of Law.

Thompson, age 56, has served as Executive Vice President, Engineering, QTI and Chief Technology Officer since March 2017.

He served as Executive Vice President, Engineering, QTI from October 2012 to March 2017 and as Senior Vice President, Engineering, Qualcomm Incorporated from July 1998 to October 2012.

Thompson joined Qualcomm in 1992 as a senior engineer and throughout his tenure at Qualcomm held several other technical and leadership positions.

Thompson, age 57, has served as Chief Technology Officer, QTI since March 2017.

He served as Executive Vice President, Engineering, QTI from October 2012 to March 2017 and as Senior Vice President, Engineering from July 1998 to October 2012.

Thompson joined Qualcomm in 1992 as a senior engineer and throughout his tenure at Qualcomm

has held several other technical and leadership positions.

Thompson holds a B.S., an M.S.

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business