Qualcomm is developing more than 40 AI devices and predicts the end of the app era

Qualcomm is changing its strategy: the company is working on roughly 40 personal AI devices, and its chief executive is convinced that AI agents will radically change the role of traditional software.

A world without familiar apps

In an interview with CNBC, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon laid out a radical view of the future of computing. In his words, AI agents can do more than automate routine tasks: they may completely redefine the concept of software. The familiar app that you have to download, install and open by hand risks becoming a relic.

Amon believes future users will state their intentions in free form, while an agent will pick the right tools on its own, switch between services and carry the task through to a result. In this picture, individual apps turn into "access points" for agents rather than standalone products demanding the user's attention.

This means the familiar logic of app development and monetization may be rewritten. If the agent decides which service to use, competition will move from the UX level to agent compatibility and API quality.

About 40 devices in development

Qualcomm is acting on this direction, not just talking about it. The company is developing about 40 personal devices built around local processing of AI tasks directly on the chip, without a mandatory call to the cloud. The proposed formats include:

• smartphones with enhanced neural processors
• laptops based on Snapdragon X Elite and later generations
• AR and VR headsets with real-time scene processing
• smart home devices with local voice AI
• specialized enterprise terminals

Local AI is not just a marketing line. It is a technological bet on user privacy, on response speed that does not depend on the network, and on the ability to work offline. For a chipmaker this is a strategic shift: instead of simply supplying computing power to OEM partners, it becomes part of the device's full AI stack.

Qualcomm versus the cloud giants

Microsoft, Google and Amazon have long bet that the most powerful AI will live in their data centers, while the user's device remains a "thin client". Qualcomm offers an alternative model: sufficiently powerful local inference right in your pocket or on your desk.

"We are convinced that computing will be distributed between the device and the cloud, and our role on the device side is becoming critically important," said

Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm.

Behind this technological dispute lies the question of who will control the user's AI interaction. If the agent lives on the device and processes data locally, the chip maker ends up at the center of the new ecosystem. Qualcomm clearly wants to claim that spot ahead of its competitors.

What this means

If Amon's forecast comes true even in part, developers will face a new question: not how to build a beautiful interface, but how to become visible and convenient for an AI agent. In the process, Qualcomm is moving beyond the role of chip manufacturer: the company is positioning itself as the architect of a new user-side AI ecosystem.