Qualcomm & Mediatek: Smartphone production plummets
The memory crisis is materializing in the figures of the largest smartphone processor suppliers Qualcomm and Mediatek.
(Image: Andreas Wodrich / heise medien)
The world's largest suppliers of mobile processors for Android smartphones are showing the effects of the memory crisis. At Mediatek, revenue from smartphone processors already plummeted by 18 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2026. Qualcomm, on the other hand, expects a 18 percent decline in revenue from Snapdragon processors for smartphones in the second calendar quarter of 2026.
Mediatek is affected earlier, among other reasons, because the company primarily sells low-cost processors for the entry-level and mid-range segments. High memory prices have the first negative impact here. The company recently generated just under 2.4 billion US dollars with smartphone processors. Qualcomm's Snapdragons, on the other hand, are more often found in more expensive smartphones. The company still generated a good six billion US dollars with mobile chips in the first quarter. In the second quarter, it is expected to be around 4.9 billion US dollars. The year-on-year comparison looks even worse with an expected decline of 22 percent.
Regarding the figures in the first quarter, Qualcomm's CFO Akash Palkhiwala said in an analyst conference: "Revenues [...] came in as anticipated as OEMs remain cautious on handset builds due to the impact of challenging memory industry dynamics."
Videos by heise
Bottom in the second quarter conceivable
At least in China, Qualcomm expects the bottom to be reached in the coming months. From the third calendar quarter onwards, a gradual recovery is expected. Between the lines, it becomes clear: it may take some time before the market reaches the level it was at before the memory crisis.
Market observers expect a sales decline of at least eight percent for the entire year. That would correspond to around 1.15 to 1.2 billion smartphones. Mediatek's outlook is even worse: a drop of 15 percent is possible.
Qualcomm's stock soars on AI outlook
Qualcomm's stock only shot up after the business report was announced due to an outlook for its own AI chips. CEO Cristiano Amon said that Qualcomm plans to deliver the first custom chips to a hyperscaler in December. Amon did not disclose what kind of chip it is. However, delivery volumes are likely to be low at the beginning.
"In addition, development of our leading data center CPU and high-performance AI inference accelerators is progressing well," the CEO explained.
Mediatek's stock is slightly up after its own business report. The company operates in AI chips primarily in the background through design assistance for accelerators, including Google's new TPU generation. Growth in AI chips is expected to compensate for the weakening smartphone market.
Quarterly earnings
Across all divisions, Qualcomm generated revenue of 10.6 billion US dollars in the past quarter. The net profit of 7.4 billion US dollars is only so high due to a multi-billion dollar tax asset write-down. Profit before tax was 2.2 billion US dollars, slightly below the previous year's result, as was revenue.
In the current quarter, Qualcomm expects total revenue of 9.2 billion to 10 billion US dollars. Growth in divisions such as automotive processors partially compensates for the weakening smartphone business.
Mediatek's total revenue was just over 4.7 billion US dollars, with a net profit of 771 million US dollars. Mediatek, like other Asian companies, does not publish a quarterly outlook.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(mma)
