Qualcomm predicts ‘broadening demand weakness’ for phones

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Qualcomm thinks the world won't be buying very many Qualcomm phones in the first half of this year. On today's Q1 2023 earnings call, the company says it sees broadening demand weakness among handsets and IoT products" and expects its customers simply won't bother shipping as many phones in its second and third fiscal quarters (through June 2023) because they don't expect people to buy them.

Qualcomm already saw an 18 percent drop in phone sales this past quarter (ending December 25th), with research firm IDC calling it the largest-ever decline in a single quarter" for phones in general, not just in Qualcomm-powered handsets.

Next quarter, Qualcomm actually doesn't expect its phone sales to decline all that much; they'll be down...

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