A news report on Reuters this morning says that Qualcomm expects to be able to fulfil its bulging order book backlog by the year end. The US telecoms giant and chip maker has had very high demand and sold a record 158 million chips in the first quarter this year.
Qualcomm has had a few difficulties getting enough 28nm chips produced to meet the demand of its customers. Also increases in manufacturing expenditure were greater than expected. In particular it was in the news a couple of months ago that subcontractor TSMC wasn’t able to keep up with demand for the 28nm Snapdragon processor. The processor is a very popular one with good performance and powers many smartphones, tablets and even smart TVs.
The company is looking to put up some competition to NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 chips in smart mobile devices and recently detailed a new range of Snapdragons to take into battle. An initiative that’s only good if Qualcomm can actually supply the numbers manufacturers need. Better supply and competition means better prices for consumers in the long run.
Chairman and chief executive Paul Jacobs told Reuters that Qualcomm is working with TSMC and other foundries to increase supplies. “The goal is to get enough supply for everyone” he said.
