Meng is an old hand and Qualcomm hopes his experience will settle the market which accounts for half of the company's overall revenues but where it has hit rough patches.

Qualcomm also said Wang Xiang would leave his role as president of Greater China. Wang will head for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, the Beijing-based five-year-old upstart.

Qualcomm's will need some turning around in China. After a 14-month Chinese government investigation into anti-competitive practices, the company agreed to pay a fine of $975 million, the largest in China's corporate history.

That settlement also had Qualcomm lower its royalty rates on patents used in China.

In April, Qualcomm said it believed some of its licensees in China may not be fully reporting their sales of licensed products, undercutting revenues.

Meng's appointment is effective June 15, the company said in a statement late on Wednesday. Meng has 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and was previously Qualcomm's president of Greater China from 2008 to 2010, it said.

Before Meng's return, he was president of Chinese Internet data center provider 21Vianet Group.

Derek Aberle, president of Qualcomm, said in the statement: "Frank's extensive industry experience and leadership will drive continued business growth and further strengthen our collaboration across the Chinese mobile ecosystem and semiconductor sector,".

Wang will become senior vice president of strategic cooperation at Xiaomi, the smartphone firm said.

Wang had helped forge Xiaomi's relationship with Qualcomm, which both supplies chips to the smartphone maker and was an early investor.