Qualcomm Sees Strong Q4 Earnings Thanks to 5G iPhone 12
Qualcomm earned $8.3 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the company's earnings report that was shared today. That's up 73 percent from the fourth quarter of 2019, with Qualcomm's strong performance due in part to the 5G chips used in the iPhone 12 and other smartphones on the market.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said that some of the Q4 earnings report reflected iPhone sales, but earnings will be more substantial in the next quarter. "Our investments in 5G are coming to fruition and showing benefits in our licensing and product businesses," said Mollenkopf.
Qualcomm also received a one-time payment of $1.8 billion from Huawei, but even without that revenue, Qualcomm's sales were up 35 percent year over year.
Apple and Qualcomm last year settled a vicious legal battle over licensing fees after it became clear Apple would not be able to rely on Intel chips for its 5G iPhones. Apple and Qualcomm signed a multi-year licensing deal and all of the iPhone 12 models are equipped with Qualcomm's 5G modems.
Going forward, Apple plans to use Qualcomm chips for years to come. A recent Apple roadmap suggested the company plans to rely on Qualcomm's X60, X65, and X70 chips through at least 2023. Apple is, however, developing its own modem chips in house and at some point, may shift to its own technology.
Apple in 2019 purchased the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business for $1 billion, giving Apple new wireless technology patents and engineers with expertise in modem development. Intel's former chip team has joined Apple's cellular technologies group, and at the time, Apple chip chief Johny Srouji said that the purchase would allow Apple to expedite development on future products.
Related Stories
Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon believes that Qualcomm will provide laptop chips that can compete with Apple silicon by next year and has explained how the company views Apple's expected transition to its own custom modems.
Speaking to Reuters, Amon said that Qualcomm is capable of having the best chip on the market, thanks to a team of chip architects who previously worked for Apple ...
Qualcomm has unveiled its new 5G Snapdragon X70 modem, which is likely to be the last Qualcomm modem to be used by Apple in its iPhones before it switches to in-house custom-designed chips.
Qualcomm says its latest 5G modem for smartphones includes "the world's first 5G AI processor integrated in a 5G Modem-RF System," which is supposed to increase the average download and uplink speeds on...
The United States Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has filed a lawsuit to block Nvidia from acquiring Arm in a deal worth $40 billion.
According to the FTC, the deal would give Nvidia, one of the largest chip companies, control over computing technology and designs that rival firms rely on to develop competing chips. The FTC believes an acquisition would stifle "innovative...
Apple's iPhone 13 lineup led global smartphone revenues to a new high of $448 billion in 2021, Counterpoint reports.
Smartphone revenues grew seven percent year-on-year and 12 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2021, despite difficulties caused by component shortages. Apple's iPhone revenue is believed to have increased 35 percent year-on-year to $196 billion in 2021, its...
Qualcomm today announced plans for next-generation Arm-based System on Chips (SoC) designed to rival Apple's M-series chips in the PC space (via The Verge).
At Qualcomm's 2021 investor day event, chief technology officer Dr. James Thompson announced the plans for the new generation of chips. The chips are "designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs" and are being developed by...
Over the weekend, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo sent out a research note suggesting that the iPhone 13 was "likely" to support low earth orbit satellite communication, a feature that would allow iPhone users to make calls and send messages when cellular and WiFi connections are unavailable.
In this note, Kuo said that Apple would use a "customized" Qualcomm X60 baseband chip that supports...
The United States Federal Trade Commission is abandoning its antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm, reports Bloomberg. The FTC will not seek a Supreme Court review of a 2020 federal appeals court decision that determined that Qualcomm's licensing practices are fair and not anticompetitive.
In a statement, FTC chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said that the FTC's conclusion that Qualcomm...
Qualcomm is preparing for the launch of Apple's own modem chips, which will cut into Qualcomm's modem business starting in 2023. At today's Investor Day event, Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala said that Qualcomm expects to supply just 20 percent of Apple's modem chips in 2023.
If that's an accurate estimate, it means that 2022 will be the last year that Qualcomm enjoys a modem monopoly in...
Popular Stories
Earlier this week, The Information's Wayne Ma outlined struggles that Apple has faced during the development of its long-rumored AR/VR headset. Now, in a follow-up report, he has shared several additional details about the wearable device. Apple headset render created by Ian Zelbo based on The Information reporting For starters, one of the headset's marquee features is said to be lifelike...
While Apple's early M1-based Macs can only officially support a single external display, there are ways around the limitation. Anker is launching a new 10-in-1 USB-C docking station today which delivers just that.
The Anker 563 USB-C dock includes two HDMI ports and a DisplayPort port, and it leverages DisplayLink to carry multiple video signals over a single connection. Given that this hub...
Apple today shared a new ad highlighting iPhone privacy features like App Tracking Transparency and Mail Privacy Protection that are designed to give users more transparency and control when it comes to their personal data being collected.
The ad revolves around a young woman named Ellie who discovers that her personal data is being sold at an auction house, with bids being placed on her...
The Apple Watch Series 8 could feature an all-new design with a flat display, according to the leaker known as "ShrimpApplePro."
In his latest video on the YouTube channel Front Page Tech, Jon Prosser highlighted information from ShrimpApplePro that suggests the Apple Watch Series 8 could feature a flat display in what seems to be a design originally rumored for the Apple Watch Series 7. ...
Sony this week came out with an updated version of its popular over-ear noise canceling headphones, so we picked up a pair to compare them to the AirPods Max to see which headphones are better and whether it's worth buying the $400 WH-1000XM5 from Sony over Apple's $549 AirPods Max.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. First of all, the AirPods Max win out when it comes ...
With around four months to go before Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 14 lineup, the overwhelming majority of rumors related to the new devices so far have focused on the iPhone 14 Pro, rather than the standard iPhone 14 – leading to questions about how different the iPhone 14 will actually be from its predecessor, the iPhone 13.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are expected...
Apple last week demonstrated its upcoming AR/VR headset to Apple board members, indicating that the device is in an advanced stage of development and could see a debut in the not too distant future, reports Bloomberg. Apple has also ramped up development of the software that runs on the headset, with that software expected to be called "RealityOS," or rOS for short. Render via designer Ian ...
Top Rated Comments
can't wait until Apple comes out with their own modem.
In order for Apple to develop their own modem as being good for the consumers, Apple must be better than the best.
Otherwise it's another Intel fiasco again and nobody wins except Apple shareholders who will save a few dollars.
Or, hear me out, Qualcomm developed the best modem technology, patented it, and then Apple refused to play ball with Qualcomm.
Qualcomm has such a deep well of R&D experience in advanced communications systems, algorithm development, techniques, and novel designs going back to its co-founder Dr. Andrew Viterbi and others in the 1980s. Most communications systems engineers would tip their hats to Viterbi's and Qualcomm's accomplishments.
Apple is lucky to be able to draw on that advanced technology embodied in Qualcomm's modem chips. I just don't see Apple engineers staying ahead of the curve on current and future state of the art communications systems techniques and technologies as aggressively as Qualcomm. It's a lot more than just chip design.
I mean, the whole thing is publicly documented, not the crap and rumours from news outlet, but the actual court case and legal documents. You can go and read it up and make up your own mind.
And the same as to IMG ( PowerVR ).
It is funny that MR Apple's Fans think Apple absolutely deserve the 30% from the App Store, and even more so if Apple like, while Apple should not pay a cent to Qualcomm invention, innovation and patents.