Chip maker Qualcomm has announced its earnings for 2012's fourth quarter, with the firm generating solid profits due to strong smartphone demand.
Net profit increased by 36 percent to $1.91 billion on revenues of $6.02 billion. The latter figure is a jump of 29 percent when compared to 2011's Q4. Qualcomm’s licensing earnings increased by 20 percent to $1.8 billion.
Equipment and services sales jumped by 33 percent to $4.2 billion, with Qualcomm shipping 182 million modem chips. Over the holiday season, its chipsets were powering several popular smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, Google's Nexus 4 and Nokia's Lumia.
More than 600 devices available on the market now sport Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors, while another 450 are in development; the rumored low-cost iPhone is expected to be one such device. Smartphone sales in China, meanwhile, increased by 115 per cent year-on-year.
"We are pleased to report record quarterly revenues, Non-GAAP EPS and MSM chip shipments, driven by the growing global demand for smartphones and our industry-leading portfolio of 3G/LTE chipsets," said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, Qualcomm chairman and CEO. "Our broad licensing partnerships and extensive chipset roadmap, including our recently announced best-in-class Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and 600 processors, position us well for strong growth, and we are pleased to be raising our revenue and earnings guidance for fiscal 2013."
