Qualcomm increases chip shipment estimates

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said it expects to ship at least 28 million MSM phone chips in the first quarter of 2003, more than its initial estimate of between 25 million and 27 million. Most of the products include cdma2000 1x chips.

For the second quarter, the company expects to ship 24 million to 27 million chips in contrast to the original 20 million it estimated.

“We believe the continued growth of CDMA networks compared to other technologies primarily stems from the attractiveness to consumers and operators of 3G-enabled cdma2000 1x handsets and the superior performance of CDMA systems,” said Irwin Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of the company.