Qualcomm’s smartphone chip sales miss estimates, shares fall

Qualcomm’s fourth-quarter smartphone chip sales missed analysts’ estimates, and its shares fell more than 6 per cent in extended trading. Weak handset demand and declining revenue linked to Apple weighed on its core business, overshadowing a stronger forecast for its emerging data-centre segment.

Handset revenue fell 26 per cent to $5.14 billion, while revenue from Qualcomm’s chip segment declined 8 per cent to $9.02 billion. Counterpoint Research estimated global smartphone shipments dropped 20 per cent in the September quarter to a 14-year low, amid rising memory costs. Qualcomm expects first-quarter revenue of $10.4 billion to $11.2 billion and says its forecast assumes no further Apple sales; it is targeting $15 billion in annual data-centre revenue by fiscal 2029.