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Qualcomm surpasses earnings expectations, despite COVID-related setbacks

Things are starting to look up.

What you need to know

  • Qualcomm's CEO has stated that the market is recovering quicker than expected, despite setbacks from the global pandemic.
  • Mollenkopf also indicated that Apple has repeatedly delayed the release schedule of its upcoming 5G iPhone.
  • Qualcomm has also settled a longstanding patent dispute with Huawei.

Following a report last week that smartphone sales had fallen by 25% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020, due in large part to the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Qualcomm is easing concerns with a recent statement that the market is recovering more quickly than originally aniticipated.

In a conversation with Axios, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf mentioned that along with COVID-19, continued delays of a "global 5G flagship phone launch" (suspected to be the upcoming iPhone, whose manufacturer Apple uses Qualcomm modems in its phones) has had a minor impact on earnings, though the company's shares have increased by 13% following a patent dispute settlement with Huawei.

Qualcomm expects to receive $1.8 billion in additional revenue from Huawei. This recent dispute settlement means that Qualcomm now has licensing agreements with nearly every handset maker.