Snapdragon steps out: From chipset to checkout counter

If you walk into Croma’s store in Mumbai’s Juhu suburb and see a Snapdragon island table, you could be forgiven for wondering why a B2B brand is putting itself out there in a consumer electronics store. But this is a well-thought-out strategy by Qualcomm, which was always seen as a component brand. While it has worked with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it now wants to build brand recall with end-consumers.

Sumit Sonal, head of marketing of Qualcomm India, tells Campaign that these are signs of how the semiconductor company is trying to connect directly to the consumer. "From culture marketing to being direct to the consumer to building the Snapdragon Insiders, a community of around 20 lakh people in India, these intentional moves will make us the co-hero and at the forefront in our story instead of being a backend player," he adds.

And that effort appears to be paying off. Snapdragon entered the Kantar BrandZ Top 50 India list for the first time in 2024, debuting at rank 38. For a brand that lived on the spec sheet, hidden under the hood of smartphones and devices, this leap into public consciousness marks a major marketing transformation.

Traditionally operating in the background, Snapdragon has been powering smartphones, cars, PCs, and most recently, Ray-Ban Meta glasses. While still an essential enabler across industries, Qualcomm has deliberately shifted its strategy in India from being a component supplier to a brand with consumer recognition and preference.

The pivot started with cultural marketing—from a global association with Manchester United to its recent foray into Indian cricket. Last October, Qualcomm Technologies launched its first festive season campaign in India, 'Power To Move', spotlighting Snapdragon-powered devices. Spanning online and offline media, it highlighted features like on-device AI, clear cameras, elite gaming, and power efficiency across smartphones and PCs to enhance productivity, creativity, and entertainment.

The company is also making moves in retail, most notably through the aforementioned island tables in retail stores like Croma, allowing users to experience Snapdragon-powered devices firsthand. Its Snapdragon Insiders community, with over 20 lakh members, further helps deepen consumer connection.

This consumer-facing strategy is paying dividends. “We’re approaching the Indian market on multiple levels, starting with our premium audience—where Snapdragon enjoys nearly 82% brand preference. But the real shift is happening in the entry and mid-tier segments,” says Sonal.

Snapdragon is now powering phones in the INR 10,000–12,000 range, with the 4S Gen2 chip helping bring 5G to devices priced as low as INR 7,000–8,000. “This move brought premium-like experiences to entry-tier devices and boosted brand popularity across the board,” he notes.

Despite the rise in awareness, many in-store shoppers still don’t know if a phone runs on Mediatek, Snapdragon or Nvidia. Qualcomm addresses this through retail staff training. “Our training teams educate them on what makes Snapdragon different,” says Sonal. “We’re also using retail, print, and community engagement to build mass-level brand affinity, aiming to shift from being a purely premium brand to one with broader market relevance.”

This also explains the company’s push into multiple hybrid touchpoints. “One of our recent campaigns was where we announced our first store in the India market with a promo. So, when it comes to conversion, we looked at the awareness and reference index, which is very important, followed by NPS. Thirdly, when it comes to retail, we consider the conversion ratio,” he explains.

With compute, a newer vertical for Qualcomm in India, these metrics are particularly critical, especially since Snapdragon is up against legacy players like Intel, AMD and Apple. “We look at preference, conversion, and what the media is talking about in terms of social media awareness.”

A key partnership Qualcomm is leveraging is with Xiaomi, which ranges from INR 8,000 phones to INR 50,000 flagships. "We are working with both Xiaomi and Oppo and are further expanding into tier 2 and 3 markets. We are no more focusing only on urban metros but are pushing with Xiaomi's robust distribution channel," says Sonal. Initiatives include roadshows, regional workshops and workforce training.

Xiaomi’s active community, especially around its Note series, gives Snapdragon a platform to explain specifications and demonstrate features in relatable language. "We further collaborate into partnerships where 2-3 companies like Xiaomi, Leica and Snapdragon come together to bring the right consumer experiences," he adds.

Beyond Xiaomi, Qualcomm is also working closely with Nothing, OnePlus, Samsung, Oppo and Vivo. “We are seeing tremendous growth and consumer acceptance for another brand that we work with very closely, which is Samsung where we power their premium range, including Fold and Galaxy devices,” Sonal notes. “Once you use a Snapdragon, you see a far heavier or faster consumer acceptance coming in, hence there is better sell out numbers.”

Meanwhile, the company is moving beyond traditional consumers to engage India’s vast developer community. The Bengaluru Edge AI Hackathon was a key step in this direction. "This is our 1st hackathon in India right and we have the opportunity to make it big. Many companies pay developers to develop on their platforms. We did not want to try it this time and wanted to bring in developers and get them to work on our platforms to convince them that our platform should be the platform of their choice," Sonal explains.

Qualcomm is also targeting hands-on experience, not just theoretical interest. “The idea is to get developers to try our platform, get them comfortable with it, and our team from San Diego and others will be there to support them. We also have the arrangement to keep these developers cosy in our environment,” he says. This grassroots developer engagement is aimed at ensuring long-term ecosystem adoption.

Qualcomm's Bengaluru Edge AI Hackathon, its first, was curated to het developers to work on the company's platforms to convince them that make it the platform of their choice. Image source: X (Twitter).

On the influencer marketing front, Sonal is clear that the strategy needed realignment. “Over the past 18 months, we’ve had multiple missteps and realised the need to be more authentic rather than simply pushing specs into the market,” he admits. “Brands often try to control the entire narrative, but that doesn’t work with influencers. You have to align with what an influencer is known for and weave your brand into their story.”

This insight has shaped how Qualcomm now works with creators. “When talking to a photography influencer, we highlight the Image Signal Processor (ISP) like Spectra ISP, rather than forcing them to discuss CPU or GPU. Similarly, gaming influencers focus on performance metrics that matter to them,” he adds. The company now works with 40 to 60 influencers per campaign, rather than doing mass outreach. “Each influencer has a core capability, and brands need to respect that and tailor the narrative accordingly,” Sonal insists.

Importantly, Qualcomm has moved beyond impressions to conversions. “The conversion jump we see from influencer content is tied to what we call the storytelling tail. This content doesn’t just live on YouTube—it’s also embedded on our Flipkart and Amazon platforms, which helps drive better conversions,” says Sonal. Google’s embedded shop on YouTube also lets Qualcomm track traffic from influencer videos directly to its product pages. “We brief content creators accordingly—ensuring they direct traffic to these pages so we can fully track the conversion funnel,” he adds.

Yet as Qualcomm expands into compute and automotive segments, the storytelling challenge changes. “What we’re bringing in from global is brand consistency—but what’s missing is the understanding that India, unlike the US or China, isn’t yet a mature PC or auto market. It remains a smartphone-first market,” Sonal explains.

 

 

 

 

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Even so, he sees clear opportunities. “We’re transferring the mobile chip’s strengths—like compact design, thermal efficiency, and battery optimisation—into the compute segment, especially with thin and light PCs, where Snapdragon performs well. We’re shifting the consumer narrative to show that the best of their smartphone is now inside their laptop,” he says.

In automotive, Qualcomm powers Mahindra’s BE6 and XEV9, as well as the Tata Harrier EV—from fluid displays to ADAS and safety. But the awareness is still low. “Here, the challenge is education first,” Sonal says bluntly.

The strategy is starting to show results. “Our brand preference has gone up 3 points from late last year to this year. Because of us pushing very hard upward, we are also pushing our competition much lower and our closest competition brand has fallen into single digit brand reference for the very first time,” says Sonal. “A copy paste job is not going to work in the India market; you have to localise and get closer to the consumer, to see that impact coming in.”

In the end, Qualcomm’s strategy to move from the shadows into the spotlight has less to do with technology, and more with storytelling—the kind that respects the audience’s curiosity, cultural context and desire for relevance. And that shift may just be the brand’s strongest signal yet.