The San Diego, California-based company said it now expects revenue for the quarter to September 30 to be at or slightly above the high end of its previous guidance of approximately $2.15bn to $2.25bn. It said this will lead to pro forma diluted earnings per share of $0.52 to $0.53, compared with earlier guidance of approximately $0.48 to $0.50.
With reports now in from the majority of licensees for products shipped in the June quarter, Qualcomm anticipates shipments of 92 million CDMA2000 and WCDMA units at an average selling price of approximately $218. This is in the middle of its earlier estimate of 90 million to 94 million units at an average selling price of $222. It compares with 70 million units shipped a year earlier.
CEO Dr Paul Jacobs said the company is expecting another successful quarter as worldwide demand for third-generation devices and services continues to accelerate. Even with the current growth, he said the CDMA inventory channel remains normal.
Qualcomm has been fighting a ruling which bans the import into the US of mobile phones with its 3G chips that allegedly infringe on a Broadcom patent.
It has also been engaged in a long-running dispute with mobile handset market leader Nokia, as a result of which it has not been collecting royalties since April. Nokia had been paying royalties of up to $500m a year and Qualcomm estimates that this has reduced quarterly earnings by $0.5 per share.
Based on its latest estimates, Qualcomm’s revenue for 2007 will rise between 16% and 17% to $8.72bn to $8.82bn.
