Qualcomm is experiencing a sharp decline in sales due to declining smartphone sales. A new generation of chipsets is intended to bring about a change.

Qualcomm announced its financial results on November 1st, which include numbers through September 24th. As with many companies operating in the smartphone industry, these are not looking positive. At $8.6 billion, sales were 24 percent lower than a year ago. Qualcomm generated a net profit of $1.5 billion from this revenue.

It’s not surprising that Qualcomm’s sales are declining. As the largest chip manufacturer for smartphones, the company is heavily dependent on the smartphone industry. This has been in a sustained decline for two years, although there are initial tentative signs of recovery. The company’s smartphone division brought in 27 percent less in the last quarter. But chips for IoT devices also sold less well (-31%). Only in the automotive industry did Qualcomm record an increase in sales (+15%).

Clean slate

At Qualcomm they sound positive. The company has started a new financial year in which an improvement is expected. CFO Akash Palkhiwala says global smartphone demand is stabilizing again. CEO Cristiano Amon emphasizes Qualcomm’s technology leadership in the mobile industry.

Recently, Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the latest generation of chipset for flagship smartphones. We will soon find this in the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro. Qualcomm is also targeting the PC industry to increase its sales. With the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite it wants to breathe new life into Windows on ARM. The major PC brands are already showing interest in the new chipset.