Despite inflation, lockdowns in China and ‘flat’ phone market, Qualcomm continues to grow: CEO

Despite inflation and a slowing in the global phone business due to lockdowns in China, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told Fox Business his company is growing, and not experiencing the hiring freeze seen in many other tech companies. “We talk about the phone market globally being kind of flat, to a downward bias,” Amon told Fox Business at the “Montana on the Rise” economic summit, hosted by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. and the Montana Chamber of Commerce. “But the reality is the biggest impact in the market has not been inflation, it has been, I think, the weakness in the China domestic markets because they’re locked down.” China has stuck to a “zero-COVID” policy and is just beginning to ease restrictions after months of strict lockdowns. In Shanghai, China’s largest city, schools have just partially reopened on a voluntary basis, and shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and drug stores will gradually reopen. Other attractions, like movie theaters and gyms, remain closed. Because of these lockdowns and increasing inflation around the world, Amon predicted downward pressure in consumer businesses, but noted that enterprise businesses, driven by digital transformations, continue to grow. Amon said unlike many other tech companies that have slowed or frozen hiring, Qualcomm has continued to grow. “Qualcomm is growing, we’re very fortunate,” he said. “I think it’s a key moment for our company that we’re diversifying. Our technology has been finding demand across virtually every industry.” Amon said Qualcomm has hired about 5,000 employees in the past six months, and has 4,000 open positions. Twitter paused most hiring and backfills ahead of Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in May the company would treat hiring as a “privilege” among an effort to cut costs following feedback from investors. Coinbase also announced Thursday the company would extend its hiring pause “for the foreseeable future.”