Fueled by Rise of LTE, Qualcomm Says 500 Phones in the Works Using Its Chips

The global adoption of LTE networks is helping Qualcomm win a spot inside hundreds of phones and dozens of tablets headed to market in the coming months.

“We are very excited about the types of devices that are going to come out,” Qualcomm Technologies Executive VP Murthy Renduchintala said in an interview following the company’s earnings report on Tuesday. Qualcomm reported results ahead of its forecast, and raised its expectations for the coming year amid stronger-than-expected phone business.

Renduchintala said that at least 500 Snapdragon-powered smartphones and 40 tablets are in the works. Some of that momentum has come as more and more wireless carriers are upgrading to LTE networks — a market Qualcomm has dominated.

New Snapdragon-powered devices range from high-end flagship phones to models aimed at boosting business in lower-end models destined for China and India. Qualcomm plans to announce several new efforts at those emerging markets before the end of the year.

“The holiday season is going to be a very exciting period for us,” he said.

Two of Qualcomm’s latest design wins were announced this week. Motorola is using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro at the heart of the X8 processing engine that powers a series of new Droid models for Verizon Wireless.

Meanwhile, a Qualcomm chip is also powering the new Asus-built Nexus 7 tablet that Google announced on Wednesday. Renduchintala said to expect more tablets running a variety of operating systems to be announced using Qualcomm chips.

“You’ll see a number of announcements come out over the next few months,” he said.