SpaceX struck a multiyear deal with Qualcomm to build out base stations for its U.S. mobile carrier, Starlink Mobile, which is trying to take on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/04/spacex-strikes-deal-with-qualcomm-for-mobile-network-infrastructure.html
@dj
I agree with your assessment, but $10k per Dragonwing based CSM? A competitor like Mediatek will offer the same product for 50% of whatever price Q offers and maybe deliver a better quality as their software does not have the legacy "bloat".
@dj Next step is increasing the license fee until SpaceX develops its own chips. Sounds familiar?
Why is this big news? I am not in Qualcomm now and don't have any knowledge of pricing. However, even on working with the numbers from a best case pov, SpaceX needs 80,000 terrestrial base stations. Qualcomm proposes to make their Dragonwing platform as the "CSM" (anyone remembers that one - a few VP's kept that boondoggle going on for decades?).
Let's say one terrestrial station needs 3 Dragonwing modems/devices. So, for US alone it is a 300,000 TAM. Let's say each Dragonwing is priced at $10k. That is only a $3 billion in revenue spread over who knows how many quarters? Look at the revenue lost from Apple. Look at the revenue that is going to be lost from dwindling Samsung orders.
Whatever happened to QCOM's OneWeb satellite system comm design? Oh, just another failure. Nevermind ...
LOL
@ah No SpaceX isn't "mostly talk" It DOMINATES. • U.S. launches: ~82% to 97%
• Global launches (by count): ~51% to 54% (or ~75% to 83% by mass/payload) It has revolutionized the launch industry and truly dominates and it did so in a decade. Starship is on the cusp now of becoming far beyond a "game changer", it's a whole new game, there may and will be some more kabooms, but that is how Falcon 9 was too.
Obviously Starlink is a massive success. Q hitching in ANY way to SpaceX tail fins or grid fins as the case may be isn't a bad thing.
That could be a bad news, depends on how you see it. I think mobile companies pay us a ton of money, on the other hand spacex is mostly talk and little results (somewhat okay) so far.