The BusinessWeek 50 Ranking
13
Qualcomm
When Qualcomm announced on Mar. 8 that legendary founder and CEO Irwin Jacobs will retire in July, investors pushed the stock down 4%, to $36. Their nervousness was understandable: Jacobs almost single-handedly developed a popular cell-phone standard called CDMA. San Diego-based Qualcomm takes a piece of every CDMA phone sold and supplies most of their chips. Profits have jumped an average annual 91.8% over three years; net margins are 36.1%. Now it's up to Jacobs' son and successor, Paul, to ensure the continued growth of advanced cell-phone technologies.
Company Info
| 2004 Rank | 17 |
| STOCK INFO | QCOM |
| Market Value | $59.2 BILLION |
| Total Return | (1-yr.) 15.1%
(3-yr.) 119.9% |
| 2004 sales | $5.1 BILLION |
| Sales Growth | (1-yr.) 27%
(3-yr.) 22.4% |
| Net income | $1.8 BILLION |
| Net Income Growth | (1-yr.) 57%
(3-yr.) 91.8% |
| Net Margin* | 36.1% |
| Return on Equity* | 17.7% |
| Industry | TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT |
| CORPORATE WEB SITE | |
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*Trailing 12 months
Company data as of 2/28/05 provided by Standard & Poor's Compustat
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Company Snapshot
QUALCOMM Incorporated engages in the development, design, manufacture, and marketing of digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on code division multiple access (CDMA) technology. It develops and supplies CDMA-based integrated circuits and system software for wireless voice and data communications, multimedia functions, and global positioning system products for wireless device and infrastructure manufacturers. The company grants licenses to use portions of its intellectual property portfolio, which includes patent rights essential to or used in the manufacture and sale of CDMA products. It offers satellite and terrestrial-based two-way data messaging and position reporting services for transportation companies, private fleets, construction equipment fleets, and other enterprise companies. The company provides the binary runtime environment for wireless product and services to network operators, handset manufacturers, and application developers; and support for developing and delivering over-the-air wireless applications and services. In addition, QUALCOMM makes strategic investments to promote worldwide adoptions of CDMA products and services for wireless voice and Internet data communications. The company markets its products through direct sales force, partnerships, and distributors in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico. QUALCOMM was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
No. of Employees
7,600
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