Qualcomm expects half a billion 5G smartphones to be shipped next year
Qualcomm Technologies has reported the results of the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, at the same time changing the reporting structure. It now shares the revenue from smartphone processors, modems, automotive components, and the Internet of Things. In the coming year, the company looks with optimism, predicting the appearance on the market of 500 million smartphones with support for 5G networks.
Qualcomm’s revenue in the reporting period exceeded analysts’ expectations, reaching $ 8.3 billion, and exceeding the results of the same quarter last year by 73%. The QCT division, which sells semiconductor components, showed a 38% increase in revenue to $ 5 billion, and license royalties brought the QTL division 30% more than a year earlier – $ 1.5 billion. The amount received from Huawei Technologies as a result of an agreement between companies – $ 1.84 billion
Qualcomm wants to convince investors that it is not content with just the smartphone segment. The automotive business and the Internet of Things (IoT) generated $ 3.67 billion in the fiscal year ended, or about 22.23% of total revenues. Qualcomm is forecasting an average of 10% revenue growth over the next three years.
The main part of the revenue will continue to come from chips for smartphones, in this area revenue will grow by 10% per year, modems will bring about half as much, but the growth rate here will reach 12% per year. Revenue in the automotive segment will grow at the same rate, and the Internet of Things segment will take second place in terms of revenue in a couple of years with 7% annual growth.
Another change in Qualcomm’s reporting is related to the decision from next quarter to refuse to publish a forecast for the number of modems sold. Last quarter, the company managed to sell 162 million related products, which is in line with the upper bound of the forecast. If by the end of the current calendar year Qualcomm expects the global smartphone market to shrink by 5%, then from next year it expects it to increase by 8-9%.
Speaking separately about smartphones with 5G support, they will be shipped from 175 to 225 million units in the outgoing calendar year, as predicted by Qualcomm, and in the next, this number will range from 450 to 550 million units. In the coming quarter, Qualcomm expects to gain from $ 7.8 billion to $ 8.6 billion. Favorable forecasts had a corresponding impact on investors, Qualcomm stock price in the additional session of trading rose 12%.
