Qualcomm Signals Expanding Data Center Pipeline Beyond Two Wins With Silicon Demonstrations Ahead

Evidence for additional data center customers beyond the two wins—and how the pipeline could expand

1) Is there evidence of more customers beyond the two confirmed data center customers?

A) Management explicitly frames the current wins as the “near-term” base case

In discussing the data center initiative, management distinguishes between (1) existing customer engagements and (2) the broader set of customer interest that will follow milestones like silicon demonstrations and evaluation. They state that they have “line of sight” into how the existing engagements can expand (across “custom silicon,” “high-bandwidth compute,” and CPU ramp), and then add that “there’s a lot of customers that want to see silicon,” with silicon demonstrations “potential to unlock new opportunities,” alongside “additional conversation with customers.” ¹

B) Qualcomm says it is in active conversations with nearly every leading data center player

Beyond the two global hyperscaler engagements, management also states: “Across our merchant platforms… we are in active conversations with nearly every leading data center player about building long-term partnerships,” and that they expect to “share more as they advance.” ²
While this does not name additional customers, it is direct evidence that the pipeline is not limited to two parties, at least at the “active conversation / partnership discussion” stage. ²

C) The pipeline expansion is constrained by the silicon milestone, not just demand

Management’s explanation for why more customers may not yet be “named” is process-driven: many customers want to evaluate silicon performance before committing to decisions, and Qualcomm’s “next milestone” is to “see silicon and see how it performs” before they “make a decision that we’re marching forward.” ¹
They also emphasize that they are moving toward silicon demonstrations: they expect to demonstrate HBC performance on silicon “in the coming quarters,” ahead of the launch of the first HBC solution in “mid-2027.” ³

Bottom line: Yes—there is evidence of additional customer engagement beyond the two confirmed wins, though it appears largely in the form of broad active discussions and new opportunities unlocked after silicon demonstrations, rather than announced, named contracts. ¹²

2) How might the pipeline expand?

A) Expansion with existing customers across more products and more phases

For the two custom chip engagements, management indicates the expansion path is multi-dimensional: existing customer engagements should expand across “custom silicon,” “the beginning of the accelerator with high-bandwidth compute,” and “the ramp of the CPU,” including the expectation of moving toward a “multiproduct, multi-generation” buildout on custom ASICs plus accelerators and CPU ramp as they get to a higher end target (they reference ramping from “$5 billion to $15 billion”). ¹
They further characterize the current two custom-silicon wins as “in the first phase of strategic multiyear customer relationships that we expect to expand over time.” ³

B) Revenue cadence supports a broader pipeline validation loop

Management says the near-term custom silicon wins are set to begin generating revenue in the “December quarter,” with both engagements starting revenue and that they have “POs” and “already started wafers,” which supports execution confidence. ⁴
They also describe that data center revenue from ASIC engagements is expected to “start to layer in” in the December quarter, with a ramp through fiscal 2027. ⁵

This matters for pipeline expansion because it suggests Qualcomm is moving from “conversations” to “proof points” (wafers → silicon → demonstrations → evaluations → potentially broader deployments). ¹⁴³

C) New opportunities are expected to open after silicon demonstrations and evaluation

Management’s most direct pipeline-expansion mechanism is the silicon demonstration/evaluation cycle: “In the coming quarters, we’re going to have silicon… [that] has the potential to unlock new opportunities,” and that’s tied to customer evaluation needs. ¹
Separately, they note the HBC “tape-out of HBC Gen 1” as an engineering milestone, followed by expectations to demonstrate performance on silicon in coming quarters and a mid-2027 product launch. ³

D) Broad platform conversations beyond the two custom-silicon wins

Qualcomm also positions pipeline growth through “active conversations” across merchant platforms such as “HBC based AI accelerators, SerDes connectivity and CPUs,” with nearly all leading data center players discussing long-term partnerships. ²
That implies potential pipeline expansion not only via additional named custom-silicon customers, but also via adoption of broader platform components where customers may be more willing to engage earlier (e.g., merchant components) or in parallel. ²

E) The roadmap implies expanding product lines over multiple fiscal years

Qualcomm describes a staged entry: “connectivity in fiscal ’26,” “custom silicon and AI accelerators in fiscal ’27,” and “server-class CPUs in fiscal ’28,” with portfolio rollout “in phases over the next 2 years.” ³
A phased roadmap supports pipeline broadening because different customer programs can align to different product phases (and different customers can enter at different times as they see fit). ³

3) Evidence that demand is being viewed as multiyear, not a one-off

A) Management expects customer relationships to expand over time, not just remain fixed at the first phase

They explicitly call the two near-term custom silicon wins “first phase of strategic multiyear customer relationships… [that] expand over time.” ³

B) Public targets embed continued scaling

Management frames the data center business as “just at the beginning of its journey” and expresses confidence that Qualcomm will execute and win in new growth areas including data center. ⁶
Their updated outlook includes “data center revenue growth to $5 billion in fiscal ’27 and $15 billion in fiscal ’29.” ⁷
Because those targets are for future scaling, they are consistent with the idea that pipeline expansion must occur through (1) expansion with existing engagements and (2) conversion of additional customer opportunities opened by silicon milestones and evaluation. ¹³⁷

Conclusion

• Additional customers beyond the two confirmed data center wins: Yes, there is evidence of broader customer engagement—management cites “active conversations with nearly every leading data center player” and notes “additional conversation with customers,” though it does not name them yet. ¹²
• How the pipeline may expand: Primarily through (1) multiyear expansion with the two existing hyperscaler engagements (multi-product, multi-generation, accelerator + CPU ramp) and (2) unlocking new opportunities as Qualcomm produces silicon and demonstrates performance for customer evaluation, supported by a phased product roadmap from connectivity (’26) to custom silicon/accelerators (’27) to server-class CPUs (’28). ¹⁴³