Cristiano Amon
Borncirca 1970[1]
Campinas, Brazil[2]
EducationBachelor's degree in electrical engineering from University of Campinas.[3][4]
OccupationEngineer
EmployerQualcomm

Cristiano Amon is an engineer. He is currently the CEO and President of Qualcomm, a large semiconductor research and development company.[5] Amon was born circa 1970 in Brazil, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering. Mr. Amon began his career working on wireless technology for early cell phone networks. He oversaw Qualcomm's 4G[4] and 5G[6] technology, used in most Android devices.[7] He also played a role in Qualcomm's diversification beyond the cell phone industry[6][7][8] and negotiated for more processors from suppliers during shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Early life and education

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Amon was born and raised in Campinas, State of Sao Paulo in Brazil.[9] in circa 1970[1][3][6] He developed an interest in wireless technology in college[9] and earned a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Universidade Estadual de Campinas i.[4][3]

Career

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Early career

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Amon started his career working for telecommunications companies during the early development of cell phone networks.[1] His first position out of college was with NEC's Brazilian arm.[9] For that position, he moved to Tokyo, Japan and frequently travelled to San Diego, California to meet with Qualcomm.[9] In 1996, Amon was hired by Qualcomm to help the company expand in Latin America.[9] A few years later, Amon left Qualcomm. He worked for Ericsson for a short while, then joined VeloCom, an investment firm focused on the telecommunications industry.[9] While there, he was assigned to work at Vésper, a struggling telecom company that was nearing bankruptcy.[9][1] Amon worked for the Brazilian telecom company as its chief technology officer and chief operating officer until it was profitable.[6] Then, Vésper was sold to competitor Embratel in 2003.[6][9]

Qualcomm

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Amon starting working for Qualcomm again in 2004.[1] He received several promotions over the years,[1] serving as SVP of product management, EVP of Qualcomm Technologies, and President of Qualcomm's CDMA division.[6] Amon was an important figure in the development of Qualcomm's 4G technology and the growth of Qualcomm's Snapdragon semiconductors,[4] which are now used in most Android devices.[7] He also expanded Qualcomm's sales with smartphone manufacturers in China.[6][1] Amon oversaw Qualcomm's expansion outside of cell phones into semiconductors used in cars, computers, 5G infrastructure, robots, industrial applications, virtual reality devices, and other electronic devices.[6][7][8] During Steven Mollenkopf's tenure as CEO of Qualcomm, Amon was responsible for Qualcomm's 5G strategy.[5][7][9] He was responsible for improvements in Qualcomm's radio processors that are partially responsible for Qualcomm's market-share in 5G devices.[6] Amon was appointed President of Qualcomm in 2018 by then-CEO Mollenkopf.[9] He led a $1.4 billion acquisition of a company founded by former Apple executives called Nuvia and re-focused it on CPUs for consumer products, instead of data centers.[5]

In January 2021, Qualcomm announced Mollenkopf was retiring and Amon would take his place as the CEO and President of Qualcomm.[9] This was consistent with Qualcomm's history of appointing engineers to the CEO position.[8] Amon's predecessors were Irwin M. Jacobs (co-founder), Paul E. Jacobs and Steven Mollenkopf. A first challenge for him in his new position was to alleviate the shortage of integrated circuits for the customers of Qualcomm.[10][11] Shortly after Amon was appointed to the CEO position, the COVID-19 pandemic caused supply shortages for the processors used in Qualcomm's chips. Amon secured a competitive advantage for Qualcomm by successfully negotiating for more processors than competitors were able to get from suppliers.[5] Amon indicated his goals to expand in the fields around augmented reality, virtual reality and automotive technology.[12]

Personal life

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Amon serves on the board of the San Diego Harbor Police Foundation, which collects money to fight against human trafficking.[6] He is married and has three children.[13]

Affiliations

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2022: Chairman Semiconductor Industry Association.[14]

Honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Fitch, Asa (September 7, 2019). "How Qualcomm's President Changes His Perspective". WSJ. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  2. ^ Alan H. Fleischmann: Cristiano Amon. Leadership Matters, 23 August 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Freeman, Mike (December 27, 2017). "Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon named corporate president". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Cutress, Ian (December 14, 2018). "Talking Snapdragon: An Interview with Cristano Amon, President of Qualcomm". AnAndTech. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon: 'You have to bet the company'". Financial Times. January 23, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Freeman, Mike (April 17, 2021). "Where does Qualcomm's next CEO fit into the ongoing evolution of the chipmaker?". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e Times, Global (January 7, 2021). "Chip giant Qualcomm names Amon CEO". Global Times. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Tibken, Shara (January 5, 2021). "Qualcomm CEO to retire after 26 years at company". CNET. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pressman, Aaron (January 6, 2021). "Qualcomm's new CEO Cristiano Amon: Everything you need to know". Fortune. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  10. ^ McGee, Patrick (January 23, 2022). "Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon: You have to bet the company". Financial Times. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  11. ^ Fitch, Asa (October 8, 2021). "A new CEO scambles to cope with the global chip crisis". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  12. ^ Millward, Wade (January 5, 2022). "CES 2022: Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon's 10 Boldest Statements". CRN. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  13. ^ "Who Is Cristiano Amon? Everything About The CEO & President Of Qualcomm Incorporated". Show Biz Corner. January 5, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  14. ^ Cristiano Amon Elected Chair of Semiconductor Industry Association. marketscreener.com, 18. November 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022
  15. ^ Speaker Cristiano Amon. IAA Mobility. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
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