Qualcomm gains Android buzz ahead of earnings

Qualcomm is expected to report solid quarterly results Wednesday, based mostly on increased demand for smartphones and a generally stabilizing chip market. However, the chip maker also is expected to benefit from the increasing profile of Google's Android platform.

The company is a founding member of the Google-sponsored Open Handset Alliance, and has already put its chips inside several Android phones. Although there are 12 other chip suppliers in the OHA, Qualcomm is seen as a key Google partner.

"Qualcomm is a very important partner for Google and Android," Broadpoint AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie told Forbes. "People looking at Android as a play in the back half of the year should think about Qualcomm." Google expects at least 18 Android phones to be on the market by the end of the year.

Rob Chandhok, vice president of software strategy in Qualcomm's chip division, told Forbes that the company has won business because of its ability to integrate software solutions into hardware for applications and graphics. The company also has been fingered as a possible silicon supplier for netbooks running Google's Chrome OS.    

In June, Qualcomm boosted its financial outlook for its fiscal third quarter on better sales of high-end chipsets, and said it expects revenue in the quarter of $2.67 billion to $2.77 billion, up from its previous estimate of between $2.4 billion and $2.6 billion.

For more:
- see this Forbes article [1]

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