By Sean Kinney, Editor in Chief

Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf kicked off the company’s Q2 earnings call this week, reporting year-over-year increases in earnings per share and revenue, before handing things over to CEO-elect Cristiano Amon. Mollenkopf, who retires in June after 26 years with Qualcomm, told investors and analysts, “I believe there is virtually no limit on where Cristiano can lead Qualcomm, the industries he can enter, and the role the company can play in the global ecosystem. I am very excited to watch this play out.”

Amon laid out growth in automotive, IoT, RF front end, and performance with smartphone OEMs. “Our latest-generation Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform has now more than 40 devices shipped or announced globally, and we expect to see more than double this number come to market in the coming months from future product announcements. Our highly differentiated position in premium and high tiers, our modem-to-antenna leadership, and the continued transition of Huawei volume to OEMs using our solutions have positioned us to grow faster in smartphones while being able to capture the most significant portion of the revenue opportunity.”

Discussing the ongoing shortage of semiconductor supply which is coming at a time when 5G is positioned to keep up a significant growth trajectory, Amon said Qualcomm is using its “scale and working across our entire global supply chain to maximize our ability to capture this opportunity. We expect material improvements by the end of the calendar year due to planned capacity builds and multi-sourcing initiatives. As one of the leading drivers of advanced semiconductor technology platforms, we’re also excited to see more foundry investment in the United States consistent with the United States government’s strategic priorities.”