We NEED good strategy

Pure tech companies will wither away if you do not have good strategy. I see most of the posts about how folks are complaining that VPs and Principals cannot code etc. At that level you are should not code and if you do then you are no better than a lab rat. Qualcomm has been missing good strategy folks. It does not invest in good strategy people but folks with engineers who try to make strategic decision. Strategy needs a good understanding of business. If you keep doing the same sh-- as before while not able to make inroads into new markets - plain stupid. Qualcomm had all the money in the world to buy out Nvidia or and to challenge other players in new markets- instead it was dumb to think wireless is a cure all. It has missed out on the AI, block chain, etc which are new expanding markets. It has fought with mediatek in a price war with less returns. Qualcomm is just a engineering company with no strategic leadership. It should learn from Google, Intel and others..

Originally posted by @S73ZvfT-jbs.

Comment! It's anonymous!

3 replies (most recent on top)

Way too many Sr Staff spend all day going from meeting to meeting.

A lot of directors seem to lack any direction. Its just 'status update' and 'work work work'.

Some of our best engineers are burnt out and pssed off. You can give them retention bonuses and RSUs all you want but that rapidly increases costs and creates a burnt out pssed off engineer who is highly reluctant and feels trapped. Not good for the long term.

There are multiple problems here -

No direction from the top. What markets to hit, which technologies to go for etc.
The engineering teams will execute on the vision - if the only vision is wireless, the engg. folks will do just wireless. The engineering trans are top heavy and the management should continue to clean up the top and recycle.

Qualcomm has been fighting the wrong battles and is pretty badly injured. The costs are high in high cost Geo's and it went to fight with it's customers who make money in high cost Geo's. So spending a ton of money but returns are very less.

Making money by flooding the market I. Low cost geos and relying on a very old business model of royalties does not end well.

Engineering leadership can attend meetings all day as long as they can Marshall their troops towards a fruitful destination.

Making engineers work like slaves will lead to a top heavy org and loss of core engineers who carry the water for the company.

Even is Sanjay jha comes, it is a hopeless battle with a lot of loss. He is in a very new market - saturated vs growing; new markets are highly expensive - AI , data center , block chain etc. ;

For the next few years Qualcomm has to hire folks from outside from different companies, forge new relationships..

Painful journey ahead .. lot of grit is needed at the upper management ..

PRincipals should code, or do whatever technical work is related to their field of expertise. Granted, Principals and Senior Staffs have a responsibility to lead. But they are both technical positions so they should provide technical leadership and be able to roll up their sleeves and code when necessary. I see too many people Sr. Staff and above just going from meeting to meeting w/o adding value.

Thread regarding Qualcomm Inc. layoffs

We NEED good strategy

3 replies (most recent on top)

Post a reply