Qualcomm

When mobile phones consumed too much power for x86 chips, Qualcomm's ARM-based processors filled an ecological niche Intel couldn't occupy. This is adaptive radiation at work: a new environment (mobile computing) created opportunities for specialized architectures. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips now power 68% of premium smartphones by revenue, generating $39 billion in 2024. The company holds 26.5% unit share in 5G chipsets but captures the high-margin territory through costly signaling—its premium processors signal performance credibility that cheaper alternatives can't match.

The biological brilliance lies in niche expansion beyond the original habitat. Automotive revenue grew 36% year-over-year to reach $1 billion quarterly in 2024, with a $45 billion design-win pipeline. IoT revenue jumped 22%. Each market requires different adaptations: automotive demands 15-year lifespans and safety certification; IoT prioritizes power efficiency; PCs need x86 compatibility layers. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips now outperform Intel and AMD in laptop benchmarks, demonstrating that ARM's energy-efficient architecture—refined through a billion mobile devices—transfers to new environments when conditions shift.

But adaptive radiation brings vulnerability: 25% of revenue comes from one customer relationship. Apple designs its own ARM chips and develops proprietary modems, threatening to eliminate Qualcomm entirely by 2027. The company diversified revenue precisely because obligate mutualism with a single partner creates extinction risk. When your fitness depends on another species' choices, you either broaden your niche or face the consequences of their evolution.