Qualcomm Korea President Kim Sang-pyo speaks during a press briefing in Seoul on Friday. (Qualcomm Korea)
US chip giant Qualcomm Technologies underscored South Korea’s strategic importance as a global hub for technological innovation and highlighted its long-standing partnership with Samsung Electronics, along with its vision for the Korean market.
At Friday’s press briefing held at a Seoul hotel, the company pointed to Korea as a market where technological leadership directly shapes consumer perception and adoption.
Kim Sang-pyo, president of Qualcomm Korea, said 61 percent of Korean consumers view the US chip giant’s flagship mobile chipset platform Snapdragon as the benchmark for high-end mobile experiences, underscoring the country’s influence in setting premium technology standards.
“Korea is a market where technological leadership matters,” he said. “We will continue to build more intelligent and personalized experiences through a connected ecosystem across devices.”
Qualcomm said it has worked closely with Korea for more than three decades, beginning with the world’s first commercialization of code division multiple access technology in 1996. The partnership has continued through key transitions in telecommunications, including LTE-Advanced and 5G, with Samsung remaining a key partner across each generation.
Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets at Qualcomm Technologies, speaks during a press briefing in Seoul on Friday. (Qualcomm Korea)
Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets at Qualcomm Technologies, said Korea and Samsung have played a central role in the US chip giant’s technology milestones, from the world’s first nationwide CDMA deployment three decades ago to the commercialization of LTE-Advanced and 5G. He added that Korea’s engineering culture and spirit of innovation align closely with Qualcomm’s DNA.
Last month, Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform developed with Samsung. The chipset is used in the Korean tech giant’s latest Galaxy S26 smartphone series, with the Ultra model adopting it globally and the S26 and S26 Plus models in select markets. The platform is the result of Qualcomm’s collaboration with Samsung across core technologies, including CPU, GPU and AI.
Patrick said the partnership will continue. “Samsung is a leader in the Android ecosystem, and Qualcomm is a core technology provider,” he said. “In Korea, where consumers are quick to adopt new technologies, we will continue to deliver advanced experiences together.”
On foundry cooperation, Qualcomm said it works with a range of partners across the semiconductor supply chain, combining different technologies to balance performance, cost and capacity, but did not elaborate on its collaboration with Samsung.
By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)