Qualcomm acquires Arduino and unveils Uno Q board
Qualcomm has acquired Arduino, positioning the open-source hardware pioneer as a subsidiary while promising continued independence. The deal coincides with the launch of the Arduino Uno Q, a Linux-capable single-board computer in the classic Uno form factor. Featuring a hybrid processor setup, the board targets makers with enhanced AI and real-time capabilities.
Qualcomm announced the acquisition of Arduino on October 7, 2025, for an undisclosed sum, integrating it as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm's group general manager for automotive, industrial, and embedded IoT, stated during a press briefing, "Qualcomm has always been focused on differentiation at the edge." He emphasized that Arduino will maintain its operations, supporting existing products like the Uno R4 with Renesas microcontrollers and partnerships, without mandating Qualcomm chips.
The first product from this alliance is the Arduino Uno Q, described by Arduino's chief product officer Marcello Majonchi as "the most capable Arduino UNO ever" due to its hybrid architecture. It combines the Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 system-on-chip—a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor at 2.0 GHz with Adreno GPU and dual image signal processors for 13 MP cameras at 30 fps—with an STMicroelectronics STM32U585 microcontroller featuring a single Arm Cortex-M33 core at 160 MHz, 2 MB flash, and 786 kB SRAM.
The board retains the standard Uno form factor of 68.85 × 53.34 mm, with pin headers connected to the MCU for compatibility with legacy shields. It includes 2 GB LPDDR4 RAM, 16 GB eMMC storage preloaded with Debian Linux on the MPU and Zephyr RTOS on the MCU, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, four RGB LEDs, an 8×13 blue LED matrix, a Qwiic I2C connector, and a user pushbutton. High-speed interfaces like MIPI CSI/DSI, USB camera support, and video output via USB-C are accessible through underside connectors.
Development occurs via the new Arduino App Lab IDE, which unifies C-based sketches for the MCU, Python for the MPU, and AI models from Edge Impulse for applications in computer vision and signal processing. The IDE supports tethered and standalone modes, with the latter requiring a USB-C dock. Software is open-source under GNU GPL 3 or Mozilla Public License, and hardware designs under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.
Priced at $44, the 2 GB/16 GB model ships starting October 25, 2025, from the Arduino store. A 4 GB/32 GB variant follows in November at $59, shipping by year-end.