Qualcomm reported today that net profit more than doubled to $841 million in the first quarter 2010 from $341 million a year ago. Revenue also rose to $2.67 billion compared to $2.52 billion. But the mobile chipmaker revised down its forecasts for the quarter ahead, citing competition in the market and “subdued economic recovery,” particularly in developed markets like Japan and Europe. Revenues for 2010 were cut to a range of $10.4 billion to $11 billion, compared to its earlier range of $10.5 billion to $11.3 billion.
Despite increasing mobile-data usage worldwide, the economy continues to impact Qualcomm’s sales. Worldwide, lower sales at the retail end are having a knock-on effect on inventory. “We continue to think the retail channel is quite lean…at the low end of the normal band,” said William Keitel, Qualcomm’s CFO. “Our forecast for the year assumes that channel will continue to stay lean throughout 2010.”
That slower market has not yet been offset by some of the gains that Qualcomm has made over the last few months in both the smartphone/mid-range phone sectors as well as in eReaders.
The company’s Snapdragon processor is being built into Google’s Nexus One device and other devices. And the Brew platform is being used to deliver an app store experience to mid-range phones on AT&T (NYSE: T), Sprint (NYSE: S) and Verizon Wireless all committing to Brew-based apps. (Although Brew is licensed free to handset makers, developers and operators, Qualcomm charges for the chipsets that are needed to run the platform.)
Meanwhile, the company’s QSI segment, which includes FLO TV, incurred $106 million in operating expenses, or a $0.03 diluted loss per share, primarily related to FLO.
Very few mentions of the 300-pound gorilla a few hundred miles north of San Diego that was announcing a tablet product today.
– One analyst’s question on whether the radio in the new Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPad was a Qualcomm product got no comment.
– Another asked how the iPad announcement would impact Qualcomm’s interest in developing Mirasol, its eReader display technology. “Mirasol is getting a good response from customers,” said Steve Altman, president of Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM). “Our technology will be a differentiator in the long term.” The new color display is on track to launch by the end of this year.

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