He was also the VP of Qualcomm, which lends some credence to the decision, albeit I would say that may only strengthen your point rather than weaken, given that

He was also the VP of Qualcomm, which lends some credence to the decision, albeit I would say that may only strengthen your point rather than weaken, given that Qualcomm also outsources their actual chip manufacturing, i.e., is fabless. So maybe this change in direction is to be expected, even if it was not desired, given his background.