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Cristiano Amon: Qualcomm's 5G Specialist CEO
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Cristiano Amon was appointed CEO of Qualcomm in 2021, after nearly two decades within the company. From his beginnings in Brazil to his return to Qualcomm, Amon has built an extensive, global telecommunications career. Let's take a closer look at the career of the man tasked with guiding Qualcomm into the future.
Key Insights
Global telecommunications experience: Before making a career at Qualcomm, Amon gained invaluable experience across diverse roles and companies around the world.
Qualcomm comeback: After successfully turning around a distressed company in Brazil, Amon rejoined Qualcomm in 2004 and quickly advanced through a series of promotions.
CEO challenges: Since becoming CEO in 2021, Amon's main challenge has been expanding Qualcomm's 5G technology beyond smartphones while maintaining its strong market position.
Electrical Engineer Background
Cristiano Amon was born in 1970 in Campinas, Brazil, a city of over a million people just northwest of São Paulo. His father was an electrical engineer by trade, and following his early education he decided to follow in his footsteps. The young Amon enrolled at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), where he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
Telecommunications Experience
After graduating, Amon was hired by the Brazilian unit of NEC, a Japanese technology company, and relocated to Tokyo to begin his career. His role involved frequent travel to San Diego, where he regularly met with Qualcomm, one of NEC's U.S. business partners. In 1995, after a few years of collaboration, Amon was hired by Qualcomm. The company had just had its breakthrough with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology and Amon was brought in to help expand its business operations in Latin America.
In the late 1990s, Amon left Qualcomm to join Ericsson, a leading telecom equipment manufacturer at the time. Shortly after, he was recruited by VeloCom, an investor in Latin American telecom carriers. This role led Amon to take on a pivotal challenge: turning around VeloCom's troubled investment in Brazilian wireless operator Vesper, which was on the brink of bankruptcy. As Vesper's CTO and later COO, Amon played a crucial role in stabilizing the company, ultimately leading its sale to rival Embratel in 2003.
Return to Qualcomm and Career Within the Company
Amon's success in Brazil paved the way for his return to Qualcomm in 2004. Between his two spells at the company, Qualcomm had streamlined its focus on its core licensing and semiconductor business. Amon quickly demonstrated his value, earning several promotions, including Senior Vice President of Product Management, Executive Vice President of Qualcomm Technologies, and President of Qualcomm's CMDA division (now renamed QCT): the company's semiconductor unit. These roles provided Amon with broad oversight of both technical and business operations. He was also responsible for Qualcomm's flagship product, the Snapdragon platform, a processor that powers many of the world's smartphones.
After rejoining Qualcomm, Cristiano Amon worked closely with Steve Mollenkopf, who became CEO in 2014. Under Mollenkopf's leadership, Amon steadily rose through the ranks, ultimately being named President of Qualcomm in 2018, where he was tasked with overseeing the critical development of 5G technology.
By 2021, when Mollenkopf announced his retirement, Amon was widely regarded as the natural successor and was promptly appointed CEO. His promotion was a result of his deep experience in Qualcomms 5G efforts, and his close alignment with Mollenkopf's strategic vision for the company.
Challenges Ahead as CEO
As CEO of Qualcomm, Cristiano Amon faces the challenge of maintaining the company’s leadership in a fiercely competitive industry. His primary focus has been on expanding 5G technology beyond smartphones to a wider range of devices, including cars, drones, and environmental sensors.
Since taking on the CEO role, Amon has reinforced Qualcomm's dominance in wireless telecommunications chipsets, a leadership position the company has held since its mid-1990s breakthrough, supported by its vast patent portfolio and technological expertise.
The continuous supply of chipsets to major players like Alphabet's Android and Apple's iPhones underscores the company's market strength. For Amon and Qualcomm to maintain their position as the favored chip designer to these companies they must continue to drive innovation and ensure that their chipsets remain of the highest quality.
Further reading: The Suppliers Making the iPhone Possible
Closing Thoughts
Following in his father's footsteps in electrical engineering has taken Cristiano Amon across the globe and to the top of one of the most influential semiconductor companies in the world.
With decades of experience at Qualcomm in both technical and business roles, the Brazilian CEO is uniquely equipped to drive innovation and maintain the company's leadership in connectivity. Under his guidance, Qualcomm continues to ensure that products in every household continue to be connected through QUAlity COMMunication.
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