Qualcomm announces double-digit revenue gains as AI drives sales across form factors, expects high Snapdragon share in the Galaxy S26 series

What you need to know

• Qualcomm reported its FY Q4 financial earnings on Wednesday, November 5.
• The company reported a 10% increase in revenue to $10.27 billion during the quarter, while overall revenue for the year grew by 13% to $44.14 billion.
• Headset sales drove revenue following the launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, with Automotive seeing the most significant revenue gains in the division.

Qualcomm finished its financial year on a high note, reporting FY Q4 revenue of $11.3 billion, representing a 10% year-over-year increase. This was driven largely by its QCT division, which saw revenue gains across the board.

Headsets were up 14% to nearly $7 billion, driven no doubt by sales of its Snapdragon 8 Elite chipsets for high-end Android smartphones. Additionally, Automotive and IoT rose 17% and 7%, respectively, highlighting the growing success of the company's diversified strategy.

"Our business remains strong as demonstrated by record QCT revenues in fiscal 2025," said Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon in a statement.

"We delivered 18% year-over-year growth in total QCT non-Apple revenues, with combined fiscal year Automotive and IoT revenue growth of 27%. We are excited about our business momentum, the availability of our automated driving stack, and our expansion to data centers and advanced robotics."

Android premium tier continues to be strong

Despite rumors of a "lead Android customer" moving towards using more of its own modem in its devices, Qualcomm remains confident about its position in premium Android headsets. Amon noted the strong partnership with Samsung, with Qualcomm's share of chips across its Galaxy S25 reaching 100% as Samsung reserved its Exynos chips for the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and affordable Galaxy S25 FE.

Amon also anticipates a baseline of 75% share for the Galaxy S26 series, which is expected to launch in early 2026 and potentially use an upcoming Exynos chip across some of its devices in certain regions.

It's also expected that Qualcomm may eventually lose Apple as a customer as the company leverages its own in-house modem across its devices, such as the recently-launched iPhone Air. Still, the company seems confident in its position on Android and other devices.

The emerging form factor

IoT growth has been driven by the increased adoption of smart glasses, particularly following the recent launch of Meta's new lineup.

"This emerging category is growing at a remarkable pace, and has reached an inflection point, fueled by very strong demand for smart glasses from Meta," Amon stated. "This quarter alone, Meta introduced several new Snapdragon-powered styles, including the Ray Ban Meta second-generation glasses, the Oakley Meta Vanguard performance glasses, and the Meta Ray-Ban Display and Neuro Band."

And while Meta leads the market on smart glasses and XR, Qualcomm also highlighted Samsung's recently announced Galaxy XR as an important launch for Google's Android XR OS, with Snapdragon as the platform of choice.

What's next?

Qualcomm is expecting a strong fiscal Q1, thanks to the launch of devices powered by its new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. This chip promises faster performance across the CPU, GPU, and NPU, enabling new use cases as Qualcomm and Google strive for a more interconnected and seamless ecosystem of AI-powered devices.

The first devices utilizing this chip have already been announced, including the Xiaomi 17, OnePlus 15, and RedMagic 11 Pro. More devices powered by the chip are expected to be released into the new year.

We also expect to see more Snapdragon-powered cars and smart glasses, such as the highly anticipated Android XR glasses from companies like Samsung. These will offer Gemini AI capabilities and compete with devices like the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) at a cheaper price point than the Galaxy XR headset, which should drive adoption of the form factor.