Qualcomm is a global semiconductor and technology company whose reported scale spans equipment and services, patent licensing, mobile platforms, automotive systems, IoT, and computing. The figures below use Qualcomm fiscal years ending on the last Sunday in September, identify the geography and population measured, and distinguish company-reported results from vendor specifications and claims.
Key Qualcomm Statistics
The most useful Qualcomm statistics in this overview include:
- In fiscal 2024, Qualcomm reported $38.962 billion in consolidated revenue for its global business.
- In fiscal 2024, Qualcomm’s QCT segment generated $33.196 billion in revenue across its global chipset business.
- In fiscal 2024, QCT handset revenue reached $24.863 billion from the global handset stream.
- In fiscal 2024, QCT automotive revenue reached $2.910 billion from Qualcomm’s global automotive stream.
- In fiscal 2024, QCT IoT revenue was $5.423 billion from the global IoT stream.
- In fiscal 2024, QCT revenue increased 9% compared with fiscal 2023 for Qualcomm’s segment.
- In fiscal 2024, higher handset chipset shipments contributed $2.8 billion to the QCT increase, according to management attribution.
- In fiscal 2024, lower revenue per handset chipset reduced revenue by $533 million on a primarily mix-related basis.
- In fiscal 2024, Qualcomm’s QTL segment generated $5.766 billion in revenue from global licensing activities.
- As of the November 6, 2024 filing, Qualcomm had more than 200 5G license agreements worldwide.
- In fiscal 2024, three anonymized customers or licensees each represented at least 10% of consolidated revenue.
- In fiscal 2024, the largest disclosed customer or licensee represented 22% of consolidated revenue.
- In fiscal 2024, net cash provided by operating activities was $12.202 billion for Qualcomm consolidated.
- At September 29, 2024, Qualcomm held $7.849 billion in cash and cash equivalents on a consolidated basis.
- At September 29, 2024, Qualcomm held approximately 49,000 workers across full-time, part-time, and temporary employment.
- At September 29, 2024, Qualcomm employees worked in more than 150 locations across 37 countries.
- In May 2024, Snapdragon X Series laptop NPUs were specified at 45 TOPS for the global Copilot+ PC launch ecosystem.
- In May 2024, more than 20 Copilot+ PC devices were announced for the Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus launch.
Contents
- Key Qualcomm Statistics
- Qualcomm Revenue, Profit and Earnings Statistics
- QCT Handset, Automotive and IoT Revenue Trends
- Qualcomm Licensing, Patents and Customer Concentration Data
- Qualcomm Cash Flow, Investment and Balance-Sheet Statistics
- Qualcomm Workforce and Global Operations Statistics
- Snapdragon AI, PC and Mobile Platform Statistics
Qualcomm Revenue, Profit and Earnings Statistics
Qualcomm’s consolidated financial statements show a fiscal-year revenue cycle that peaked in the supplied three-year comparison in fiscal 2022, then rose in fiscal 2024 from fiscal 2023. These are GAAP company-reported figures for fiscal years that are not calendar years.
| Fiscal period | Consolidated revenue | GAAP operating income | GAAP net income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal 2022, ended September 25, 2022 | $44.200 billion | — | — |
| Fiscal 2023, ended September 24, 2023 | $35.820 billion | $7.788 billion | $7.232 billion |
| Fiscal 2024, ended September 29, 2024 | $38.962 billion | $10.071 billion | $10.142 billion |
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 29, 2024 and QCOM 09.29.24 10-K Annual Report.
Fiscal 2024 equipment and services revenue was $32.791 billion, while reported licensing revenue was $6.171 billion. The equipment-and-services figure is a product-and-service disaggregation, not a unit-shipment measure, and licensing revenue is not a royalty rate or license count.
Qualcomm reported $8.97 diluted GAAP earnings per share and $9.09 basic GAAP earnings per share in fiscal 2024. The diluted EPS calculation used a weighted average of 1.130 billion diluted shares, which is not the same as period-end shares outstanding.
Fiscal 2024 net income includes discontinued operations net of tax, an important definition when comparing the $10.142 billion result with other profitability measures.
QCT Handset, Automotive and IoT Revenue Trends
Qualcomm’s QCT segment covers multiple application streams. The filing states that some revenue-stream determinations require assumptions, so these figures describe reported revenue categories rather than shipments, installed devices, or market share.
| QCT stream | Fiscal 2022 | Fiscal 2023 | Fiscal 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total QCT revenue | — | $30.382 billion | $33.196 billion |
| Handsets | $28.815 billion | $22.570 billion | $24.863 billion |
| Automotive | $1.509 billion | $1.872 billion | $2.910 billion |
| IoT | $7.353 billion | $5.940 billion | $5.423 billion |
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 29, 2024.
QCT revenue increased 9% in fiscal 2024 versus fiscal 2023. Management attributed $2.8 billion of the increase to higher handset chipset shipments, while lower revenue per chipset reduced fiscal 2024 handset revenue by $533 million, primarily because of mix.
The application streams show different trajectories in the three-year data. Automotive revenue rose from $1.509 billion in fiscal 2022 to $2.910 billion in fiscal 2024, while IoT revenue declined from $7.353 billion to $5.423 billion over the same reported periods.
These are revenue trends, not direct adoption statistics: handset revenue is not smartphone unit share, automotive revenue is not the number of vehicles equipped, and IoT revenue is not a connected-device count.
Qualcomm Licensing, Patents and Customer Concentration Data
Qualcomm’s QTL segment reported $5.766 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue, up 5% from fiscal 2023. Licensing mix varies by licensee sales, so the segment figure should not be interpreted as a uniform royalty rate.
As of the November 6, 2024 filing, Qualcomm reported more than 200 5G license agreements in global patent licensing. This is a more-than threshold and not a complete count of every licensing arrangement.
Customer concentration was material in fiscal 2024, although the filing anonymizes customer names. The largest disclosed customer or licensee represented 22% of consolidated revenue, the second-largest represented 19%, and the third-largest represented 12%.
| Fiscal period | Three disclosed customer/licensee concentration figures |
|---|---|
| Fiscal 2022 | 21%, 21%, and below 10% |
| Fiscal 2023 | 27%, 21%, and below 10% |
| Fiscal 2024 | 22%, 19%, and 12% |
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 29, 2024.
In fiscal 2024, three named customers or licensees each represented at least 10% of consolidated revenue. The asterisk convention in the earlier concentration figures means below 10%, and the identities of the customers or licensees are not disclosed in the supplied table.
Qualcomm Cash Flow, Investment and Balance-Sheet Statistics
Qualcomm generated $12.202 billion in net cash from operating activities in fiscal 2024, compared with $11.299 billion in fiscal 2023. Cash capital expenditures were $1.041 billion in fiscal 2024 and $1.450 billion in fiscal 2023.
| Fiscal 2024 cash-flow item | Amount | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $12.202 billion | Net cash provided by operating activities |
| Capital expenditures | $1.041 billion | Cash capital expenditures |
| Acquisitions and other investments | $254 million | Net of cash acquired |
| Dividends paid | $3.687 billion | Cash dividends paid |
| Stock repurchases and retirements | $4.121 billion | Cash-flow statement amount |
Source: QCOM 09.29.24 10-K Annual Report.
At September 29, 2024, consolidated cash and cash equivalents totaled $7.849 billion, while marketable securities totaled $5.451 billion. Cash and cash equivalents exclude marketable securities in this presentation.
Inventories totaled $6.423 billion at the same date, including $2.586 billion of finished goods. The inventory total includes raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods.
Gross property, plant, and equipment totaled $12.726 billion at September 29, 2024 before accumulated depreciation. This is a derived sum of Qualcomm’s disclosed gross land, buildings, computer equipment and software, machinery, and other categories, with no additional assumptions.
Qualcomm Workforce and Global Operations Statistics
Qualcomm had approximately 49,000 full-time, part-time, and temporary workers at September 29, 2024, with the overwhelming majority full-time. This is an estimate because the company uses the word approximately, and it represents the global workforce rather than a single country.
The workforce and location footprint had several dimensions at that date:
- Employees represented more than 100 self-identified nationalities globally.
- Employees worked in over 150 locations worldwide.
- Those workforce locations covered 37 countries.
- Employees collectively spoke more than 90 languages.
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 29, 2024.
In fiscal 2024, more than 1,300 charitable organizations benefited from Qualcomm’s employee charitable-match program. That figure measures program beneficiaries, not every recipient of corporate philanthropy.
The fiscal 2024 executive human-capital bonus modifier could range from 0.9 to 1.1. This is a compensation-performance modifier, not a direct workforce outcome or employee-retention measure.
Snapdragon AI, PC and Mobile Platform Statistics
Qualcomm’s product announcements provide platform specifications, planned launch populations, and vendor performance claims. These measures are not independently audited population statistics, and comparisons depend on benchmark workload, hardware, software, and configuration.
At the May 20, 2024 Snapdragon X Series launch, Qualcomm specified a laptop NPU capability of 45 TOPS, or trillion operations per second. The Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus platforms launched with more than 20 announced Copilot+ PC devices, an announcement count rather than cumulative sales.
Qualcomm claimed Snapdragon X Elite NPU performance per watt of up to 2.6 times Apple M3 and up to 5.4 times Intel Core Ultra 7. It also specified up to 24 TOPS per watt peak performance for Snapdragon X Elite Hexagon NPU use cases and claimed matching competitor peak PC CPU performance at 60% less power.
The performance-per-watt, TOPS-per-watt, and power figures are Qualcomm vendor claims or peak specifications, not sustained application results. Qualcomm also said in its October 24, 2023 announcement that Snapdragon X Elite could run generative AI models with over 13 billion parameters on-device and claimed 4.5 times faster AI processing than competitors; those are capability and comparative claims whose benchmark details govern comparability.
Source: Qualcomm Unleashes Snapdragon X Elite: The AI Super-Charged Platform to Revolutionize the PC.
At the October 21, 2024 Snapdragon 8 Elite announcement, Qualcomm named 15 smartphone OEMs or brands poised to launch devices, including ASUS, Honor, iQOO, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, RedMagic, Redmi, realme, Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE, plus others. This is a derived count of the named list; the release also says “and more,” and planned launches are not completed shipments.
Source: Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 8 Elite with the World’s Fastest Mobile CPU.