Qualcomm nearly doubled its chips sales last quarter thanks to 5G push

Qualcomm reported its quarterly earnings today, and its push for 5G resulted in some impressive growth. According to the report, Qualcomm’s revenue went up 63% while income grew 118% Year-On-Year. In addition, revenues from Qualcomm’s chip sales nearly doubled Year-On-Year to $4.22 billion. Outgoing CEO, Steve Mollenkopf points towards the growth in 5G, expects to ramp up in the current quarter and beyond.

“We delivered an exceptional quarter, more than doubling earnings year-over-year due to strong 5G demand in handsets and growth in our RF front-end, automotive, and IoT adjacencies, which drove record earnings in our chip business. We remain well-positioned as the 5G ramp continues and we extend our core technology roadmap to adjacent industries.”

Qualcomm statistics show how the smartphone industry is starting to recover from the impact of the pandemic. The company managed to expand its processor offerings, giving consumers more options beyond the top tier models that were likely out of reach for many. The Snapdragon 765 was a popular option in many of the best Android phones last year, and Qualcomm continues to offer a range of processors that bring 5G to lower price points, like the Snapdragon 690 and Snapdragon 480, both of which will continue to drive sales.

Of course, the corporate expects the sale of iPhones and recent Samsung Galaxy S21 devices to help drive this quarter, but it also helps that the recently launched Snapdragon 870 could bring cheaper flagship models to the global market. And then there’s Nuvia, the processor startup that Qualcomm is preparing to buy. In the short term, Qualcomm will take time to integrate it into the business, but in the long term, buying Nuvia is a pretty big thing, as it could help Qualcomm to further boost its chips, particularly for Windows laptops.

All in all, Qualcomm expects a healthy year for 5G devices, with shipments expected to reach more than 450 million units. The year has only started and the first phones powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship chips have just been launched, so there’s going to be a lot more to see in the coming months.