Qualcomm’s ambitious plan for satellite messaging in smartphones has been stopped before it even started – Qualcomm

Qualcomm soon after announced a competing project, Snapdragon Satellite, which would allow satellite communication and messaging to smartphones using the company’s chip. However, 10 months after the announcement, the plan was canceled before its implementation. Iridium, Qualcomm’s satellite services partner, announced in a press release the dissolution of the partnership.

The reason was that no Android device manufacturer wanted to add satellite capability to smartphones. Since the Snapdragon Satellite has never been released, it’s hard to say exactly what the difference is between the standard platform and the Snapdragon Satellite, but we can make some guesses.

Qualcomm and Iridium’s solution used the proprietary Iridium protocol, like many major satellite phones. The alternative will be the 3GPP “5G NTN” standard used by devices like the Motorola Satellite Link. Qualcomm also promised in the original announcement that the Snapdragon Satellite would support 5G NTN in the future, so it looks like this will be their next step.

Qualcomm has modestly stated that it wants to move to a unified solution in partnership with Iridium, rather than a proprietary solution. The original design may not have been attractive to manufacturers due to cost and complexity. The Snapdragon Satellite failure proves that even giants like Qualcomm struggle to introduce new technologies when there is no support in the market.

Despite the initial ambition, the plan quickly collapsed. Perhaps a more unified approach will have a better chance of success in the future. However, Qualcomm seems determined not to give up, given that Apple already offers satellite connectivity on the iPhone.