Company profile
SEC EDGAR ↗- Industry
- Radio & Tv Broadcasting & Communications Equipment
- Listed
- Nasdaq: QCOM
- Incorporated
- DE
- Headquarters
- San Diego, CA
- Fiscal year end
- Sep 27
Financials
FY2025- Revenue
- $44.3B
- Net income
- $5.54B
- Total assets
- $50.1B
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Total assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $44.3B | $5.54B | $50.1B |
| FY2024 | $39.0B | $10.1B | $55.2B |
| FY2023 | $35.8B | $7.23B | $51.0B |
| FY2022 | $44.2B | $12.9B | $49.0B |
| FY2021 | $33.6B | $9.04B | $41.2B |
| FY2020 | $23.5B | $5.20B | $35.6B |
Reported fiscal years from SEC filings (10-K) — SEC EDGAR ↗. Stratrix is a strategy publication, not a real-time financial data service.
Decisions on record
One verified Decision Case on Qualcomm, and the casebook each one belongs to.
| Fork date | Decision type | What Qualcomm chose | Where it stood | The story | Casebook |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Standards War | Abandon UMB for LTE | Ninth Circuit unanimously reversed Koh and vacated her injunction; the model stands (2020-08) | Read the story → | Standards War Casebook → |
Run one of these yourself
The decisions Qualcomm faced, as kits you can run.
Each pack takes one of these decisions and gives you the framework, a deck for the room, a model that resolves to one number, and the sourced cases behind it. $499, one-time.
Business ModelThe Money MachineWhere does the money actually come from, and who sets the rate it comes in at?See the pack →Crisis & ReinventionThe Crisis ResponseWhat is one more quarter of not acting worth?See the pack →Decision ForksThe Road Not TakenWhat did the decision you did not take actually cost?See the pack →
The analyses
The Money Machine · Business Model
Qualcomm Sells Chips. The Profit Is in the Patents Behind Them.
Everyone calls Qualcomm a chipmaker. Its licensing unit, QTL, earns ~$5.6B on a ~72% pre-tax margin — about 30% of all company profit from 14% of revenue — and quietly funds the chip business that gets all the attention.
8 min
The Crisis Response · Crisis & Reinvention
Qualcomm Was Found Guilty of Monopoly. Then a Higher Court Erased Every Word of It.
A federal judge ruled in 2019 that Qualcomm acted with 'anticompetitive malice.' Fifteen months later a unanimous Ninth Circuit reversed every element — with the DOJ siding against its own government's FTC. And Apple, the loudest accuser, had already paid Qualcomm billions to make peace.
8 min
The Fork · Decision Forks
Apple Settled With Qualcomm Mid-Trial in April 2019 Because It Needed the Chips
Apple sued Qualcomm in January 2017 for nearly $1 billion and spent two years attacking its licensing model. Then, mid-trial in April 2019, Apple folded — signing a six-year license and a chip-supply deal. The argument was never settled. The supply problem was.
7 min
The Standards War · Moat & Competition
Qualcomm Lost the Standards War. It Won the Toll Booth Instead.
CDMA never beat GSM globally, and Qualcomm killed its own 4G standard in 2005 when no carrier wanted it. Yet it still collects a patent toll on nearly every phone sold - a position courts have tolerated, not endorsed, and one Apple capitulated to mid-trial in 2019.
8 min
Tools to try
- Ansoff move finderFramework: Ansoff Matrix
- Business model canvas builderFramework: Business Model Canvas
- Change readiness checkFramework: Kotter's 8-Step Change Model
- Five Forces scorerFramework: Porter's Five Forces
- SMART goal builderFramework: SMART Goals
- SWOT builderFramework: SWOT Analysis
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The defining moves in business, and what they teach, as they publish.