Qualcomm executives used its latest earnings call to highlight a change in the dynamics of the Android smartphone market as consumers move towards flagship devices, a move suggesting the chip company had weathered a drop in sales to phone makers.

President and CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured) stated chip revenue suggested the Android market had become more stable during Qualcomm’s fiscal Q4 2023, which ended on 24 September.

Amon said Qualcomm was pleased “the inventory dynamics that we have seen within the Android business are largely behind us”.

He cited sequential improvements in revenue relative to Qualcomm forecasts, driven by Chinese manufacturers who Amon noted were enjoying success beyond their domestic market.

CFO Akash Palkhiwala predicted the new Snapdragon Series 8 Gen 3 chip would improve revenue sequentially as OEMs use it in flagship models.

Despite the optimism, fiscal Q4 handset chip sales declined 27 per cent year-on-year to $5.4 billion, with its broader QCT figure down 26 per cent to $7.3 billion.

Net income fell 48 per cent to $1.4 billion on sales of $8.6 billion, down 24 per cent.

Fiscal year profit fell 44 per cent to $7.2 billion and revenue 19 per cent to $35.8 billion.

Automotive chip sales grew 15 per cent to $535 million, with Amon predicting deals with major vehicle manufacturers would fuel fresh revenue, in particular in OTA updates.

IoT revenue fell 31 per cent to $1.4 billion.

QTL licensing fell 12 per cent to $1.2 billion.

Qualcomm predicted fiscal Q1 2024 revenue in a range of $9.1 billion to $9.9 billion.