Qualcomm to help HTC market the One, because Qualcomm’s so awesome at advertising, right?

BY Stefan Constantinescu

Published 26 Mar 2013

Qualcomm is an amazing company. They were one of the first to combine everything needed to make a smartphone into a simple package that anyone could then use to build a smartphone. Yet for some strange reason, Qualcomm has recently decided that the need to advertise the “Snapdragon” brand. You’ve probably seen their ads on a technology site or two, and maybe even a magazine.

But let’s be realistic, almost no one cares about the chip inside their phone. You do because you’re reading this website, but you’re a minority. And as smartphone adoption increases, the minority you’re a part of is only going to get smaller and smaller.

Which brings us to today’s “news”, courtesy of the Taiwanese supply chain website DigiTimes. They say that Qualcomm will help HTC market the One. They’re not going to make HTC’s ads, they’re simply going to feature HTC’s flagship device in their own advertising campaigns.

Here’s the relevant quote:

“Qualcomm is extending its cooperation with HTC from technology, product and carrier relationship development to marketing with the firsts of a series of promotional films being presented at the ongoing Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2013, said Shen Jin, vice president of Qualcomm Greater China.”

I have only one question: How are Qualcomm’s other partners going to feel? Samsung is going to use the Snapdragon 600 in the S4. Sony is using the S4 Pro inside the Xperia Z and ZL. Nearly every smartphone that isn’t made by Samsung or Apple uses a Qualcomm chip, so how are those little guys going to react to seeing one of their competitors features in a Qualcomm ad?

To tell you the truth, none of this will probably matter outside the tiny bubble geeks live in.