Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured) highlighted the success of the company’s handset revenue in its fiscal Q1 2025 (the period to 29 December, 2024), driven by high demand for premium smartphones in China and a decision by Samsung to use its processors for Galaxy S25 phones.

Handset revenue grew 13 per cent year-on-year to $7.5 billion.

“We are encouraged by the number of AI features, which has nearly doubled in the Galaxy S25 series,” Amon said on an earnings call.

“We expect this trend to continue as part of the transition to AI smartphones.”

Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala said higher consumer demand in China for premium devices is a long-term trend as its customers continue to gain share.

“We had higher share, of course, at Samsung. They’re using us globally in the GS25, so that helps purchases that went into the December quarter before the phone launch.”

He said the increased sales in China and the launch of the Galaxy S25 handsets are “sustained long-term drivers in our business that position us well as we look at the second half of the fiscal year”.

The QCT division results included $961 million in revenue from its automotive sector, up 61 per cent.

IoT business revenue grew 36 per cent to $1.5 billion.

Overall QCT division sales were up 20 per cent to $10 billion.

Amon noted it is the first quarter in which the division broke the $10 billion mark, with record handset and automotive sales.

“Our mobile roadmap is the strongest in our history with exceptional traction for Snapdragon in premium-tier handsets and we are delivering growth across our diversification initiatives,” he said.

Licensing unit QTL posted revenue of $1.5 billion, up 5 per cent. Amon said Qualcomm is poised to sign new long-term agreements with two more Chinese manufacturers.

Net income increased 15 per cent to $3.1 billion and overall revenue 17 per cent to $11.6 billion.

It predicted fiscal Q2 revenue in the range of $10.3 billion to $11.2 billion.