Qualcomm Revenues Fell 17 Percent

Qualcomm reported a net income of $1.7 billion on revenues of $9.28 billion in the quarter ending March 26, with revenues falling 17 percent year-over-year (YOY) thanks to a major slowdown in smartphone sales.

“As we navigate this challenging environment, we remain focused on the critical factors we can control to emerge stronger from this downturn – our leading technology roadmap, best-in-class product portfolio, strong customer relationships, and operational efficiencies,” Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon said. “Our top priority remains to execute our diversification strategy and invest in areas that drive long-term value.”

Qualcomm is the world’s largest maker of smartphone chipsets, so it’s no surprise that ongoing issues in that market have weighed heavily on its earnings. The firm earned $6.1 billion in revenues related to smartphone chipsets, but that figure is down 17 percent YOY. Revenues from IoT were down 24 percent to $1.4 billion, while revenues from automotive were up 20 percent to $447 million.

Unfortunately, Qualcomm doesn’t see the situation improving anytime soon: the firm said it expects revenues in the current quarter to land somewhere between $8.1 billion and $8.9 billion of revenue, short of analyst estimates of $9.1 billion. And it says it has seen no evidence that smartphone sales are recovering in China.

Interestingly, Qualcomm also implicitly called out Apple for part of its woes, noting that the worse-than-expected results were partially due “to the timing of purchases by a modem-only handset customer.”