Coronavirus, smartphone industry increasingly at risk

According to Qualcomm, the Coronavirus epidemic in China poses a potential threat to the mobile phone industry, with a possible impact on both production and sales. This was stated by Akash Palkhiwala, financial director of the San Diego company, during a conference with investors following the release of the quarterly results.

"Qualcomm expects significant uncertainty regarding the impact of coronavirus on mobile phone demand and the supply chain"

For the next quarter, by virtue of a timid recovery in the sector, Qualcomm it forecast revenues above expectations of Wall Street although showing some caution precisely because of the consequences due to possible interruptions of supplies from China caused by the epidemic.

Responding to investor concerns, Qualcomm still wanted to emphasize the fact that the main 5G markets this year are expected to be the United States, Korea and Japan and that if there are supply problems from China, demand will be compensated by other countries. Qualcomm also left its estimate of the number of 5G cell phones that will be sold in 2020 unchanged, between 175 and 225 million.

As for tax information, in the first fiscal quarter, the US company reported license revenues of $ 1.4 billion, in line with estimates. Qualcomm also said it has signed 85 licensing agreements for 5G technology. Excluding some items, the company earned $ 99 cents per share in the first quarter, surpassing the analysts' average estimate of 85 cents. Revenue rose 5% to $ 5.08 billion, well beyond analyst estimates of $ 4.83 billion.