Qualcomm Sees Path Out of Chip Shortage Stretching Into 2022

Qualcomm Inc. says its get-them-where-you-can approach to navigating the global semiconductor shortage is working, though the mobile-phone chip giant sees the supply crunch lasting into next year.

Qualcomm, which supplies key circuitry in almost a third of new 5G handsets, has managed to secure more capacity at outside manufacturers where it has its chips made, Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon said in an interview.

In some cases the company says it is having multiple vendors produce the same type of chip to boost its supply. Demand for Qualcomm’s products, however, is still outstripping its ability to supply them, Mr. Amon said as the company posted quarterly earnings Wednesday.

Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala said he expects that Qualcomm is “going to be constrained into early 2022, and then I think there’s a lot of [chip-making] investments being put into place, so that by the time we get to the second half we’ll be in a better place than we are.”

The supply strains are showing little sign of hurting the company financially. Strong interest in 5G phones, especially in China, led Qualcomm to suggest that sales of 5G phones this year would be biased toward the upper end of an earlier forecast of 450 million to 550 million devices. The upbeat outlook came even as Apple Inc., a major Qualcomm customer, warned Tuesday that supply constraints would extend to its smartphones during the three-month period ending in September.