Qualcomm announces surprising partnership with Ferrari

Less than two months into the year, we’re already getting some strange crossovers. For example, Microsoft recently acquired Activision Blizzard, a strange pairing in the gaming industry. Now, we turn our eyes to the automotive industry. Ferrari has inked a surprising partnership with Qualcomm for a run of smart cars.

Qualcomm is calling it “a strategic technology collaboration” wherein the company will lend its smart automotive solutions to Ferrari’s production of smarter road cars. For its part, Ferrari will adopt the Snapdragon Digital Chassis for its lineup of vehicles which will include cloud-based telematics and features for safety and driving experience.

Both companies will customize the digital cockpit experience to cater to Ferrari’s discerning customers. However, because the partnership is still fresh, neither Qualcomm nor Ferrari have described what the digital cockpit might look like, or which cars will grab the new system. That said, it should be exciting to see how Qualcomm’s smart systems will look in the luxury brand.

Besides the application in road cars, the partnership will also allow Qualcomm to become a partner for Ferrari’s Scuderia Ferrari F1 team starting this year’s season. Snapdragon will feature in the team’s F1-75 single-seaters.

It’s definitely a surprising partnership. The biggest players in the smart car niche market aren’t usually from the usual slate of luxury brands, even if luxury brands are already outing smart cars into their lineup.

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