The News: Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs (System-on-Chips) will be integrated into Volkswagen’s in-vehicle CARIAD assisted and automated driving hardware and software platform as the automaker continues to pursue its goal of providing these driving capabilities in its vehicles by the mid-2020s. The coming integration of Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs into the CARIAD platform aims to provide assisted and automated driving functions up to Level 4 in future Volkswagen vehicles. Read the full Press Release here.

Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs to Power Volkswagen’s CARIAD Software Platform to Provide In-Vehicle Assisted and Automated Driving Functions Up to Level 4 by the Mid-2020s

Analyst Take: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoCs powering Volkswagen’s CARIAD software platform is a solid win for Qualcomm and a nod to the company’s engineering prowess.

CARIAD is an independent automotive software company inside the Volkswagen Group, and the announcement unveiling its plans to incorporate Qualcomm SoCs in the still-under-development CARIAD platform was something I was excited to see.

That’s because adding assisted and automated driving features and capabilities to vehicles is a huge growth market today as vehicle makers and technology companies race to be the ones to the finish line first – while delivering it all with safety, dependability and excellent performance. This is a market that will only continue to grow and the selection of Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs by Volkswagen’s CARIAD is another endorsement for Qualcomm among the world’s automakers.

And for Qualcomm, it’s just the latest win in the company’s rapidly growing automotive business, which still trails other Qualcomm segments in size, including IoT and 5G modems. In the first quarter of 2022, Qualcomm’s nascent automotive business announced a partnership with Stellantis Group to power its next generation of intelligent connected vehicles and in a separate deal announced the closing of a deal to acquire Arriver to power its next generation of L2+ and ADAS technologies.

As my Futurum colleague, Daniel Newman, wrote in a research note in April about Qualcomm’s Q2 financial performance, the revenue pipeline for automotive technology has jumped above $16 billion, which is impressive growth in a short period of time. And with that growth, Qualcomm is quickly becoming a powerhouse in the automotive segment, which is evidenced by the CARIAD news.

How Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride SoCs Fit in for CARIAD

In order to be able to deliver competitive assisted and automated driving functions in all Volkswagen Group passenger car brands, CARIAD said that it needed SoCs that can be custom-tailored to its wide-ranging needs. That was one of the company’s critical requirements which fueled its selection of Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs for its platform to power Volkswagen vehicles up to Level 4 by the middle of the 2020s.

These in-vehicle assisted and automated driving functions, built using Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs from the company’s Ride platform line, are part of the path that will eventually deliver fully-autonomous, self-driving cars and other vehicles running at Level 5 in the future.

This is the first time that CARIAD has selected an SoC provider for its platform, which also marks a significant gain for Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs.

It will be interesting to watch this new partnership between Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs and Volkswagen’s CARIAD division and how it plays out in the assisted and automated vehicle marketplace around the globe over the next few years. These are two big names going after a lucrative and still-developing marketplace. I’m going to bet they’ll do exciting things.

Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.

Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.