Qualcomm revenue up 40%, outlook too through iPhone, Android
updated 06:00 pm EST, Wed February 1, 2012
Qualcomm fiscal Q1 2012 and outlook hit records
Qualcomm posted record results for the fall that could be credited to the rapid rise not just of mobile devices as a whole but specific partners. Its revenue was up 40 percent to nearly $4.7 billion, while its profit also climbed to 20 percent, or $1.4 billion.
The company credited the breakthrough to MSM cellular chip sales that were at "all-time highs" thanks to smartphones. CEO Paul Jacobs was optimistic about 2012 and saw his company raise its forecasts to where its revenue would grow another 19 to 29 percent and ship another 24 to 31 percent more MSM chipsets, peaking at 146 million to 154 million. It could make as much as $18.7 billion to $19.7 billion in revenue all year, or as much as 25 to 32 percent more.
"Broad licensing partnerships" and an "extensive chipset roadmap" would be key to that future, Jacobs said.
Although not breaking down shipments by the customer, Apple's iPhone 4S played a large part. The smartphone is Apple's first completely new model to use a Qualcomm chipset and, because of dual-mode support, can use that one chipset regardless of the carrier. At 37 million iPhones and the top spot in smartphones, it was more influential than Samsung, HTC, and others whose Android and Windows Phones play a large part but sometimes have to use other chipsets.
