What you need to know
- Qualcomm reported its FY Q4 2023 financial earnings on Wednesday.
- Headset revenue, which makes up the majority of Qualcomm's overall revenue, declined by 27%.
- Qualcomm's Automotive department saw a 15% increase in revenue during the quarter.
- Qualcomm expects the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to have the "majority share" with the Galaxy S24 amid rumors Samsung will bring the Exynos back to its flagship S series.
Qualcomm announced its FY Q4 2023 financial earnings on Wednesday, which shows that the company is still struggling with a declining smartphone industry. However, despite the 24% decrease in revenue to $8.63 billion, the company still fared better than expected and seems to have a fairly positive outlook for future quarters, particularly with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Galaxy S24.
The biggest contributor to the company's falling revenue is the headset division, which is responsible for the chips used in the best Android phones. For the quarter ending in September, the division accumulated just $5.46 billion, a 27% drop year over year from the $7.43 billion in Q4 2022, although this was still above expectations, per CNBC.
This isn't much of a surprise, considering the smartphone industry has been in a slump all year. Analysts have documented falling smartphone shipments throughout 2023, and the latest quarterly analysis from Canalys reveals no difference, with most OEMs exhibiting a decline.
However, things could look up during the current and subsequent quarters, at least for Qualcomm, thanks to the recently announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
"As we enter fiscal 2024, we are pleased with our roadmap and product execution, which position us well across our businesses," said Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon in a statement. "Our recent Snapdragon Summit announcements underscore our technology leadership, establishing Qualcomm as a leader in on-device generative AI and mobile computing performance."
The company is betting big on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and generative AI, with devices from Xiaomi, Honor, and more already announced or in the pipeline. Most notably, Amon said during the earnings call that Qualcomm will have the "majority share" with the upcoming Galaxy S24 launch, corroborating rumors that Samsung will bring Exynos back to its flagships with the Exynos 2400. This would shift from the current strategy, which sees Samsung using Snapdragon chips globally.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is built with generative AI in mind and promises to enable new on-device experiences on smartphones. Rumors also point to Samsung packing more generative AI in the Galaxy S24, although the chip may still fall behind the performance of the Snapdragon chip.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 is expected to launch in early 2024, likely in January, so we will likely hear more about Samsung's plans for the phone during the next major Galaxy Unpacked event.
Aside from the 8 Gen 3, the new Snapdragon X Elite chip also promises to boost performance for ARM-based Windows laptops, boasting performance challenging even Apple's M-series chips. Meanwhile, Amon also spotlighted its partnership with Apple, stating that Qualcomm will continue supplying 5G modems for iPhones through 2026.
