Qualcomm Inc. warned on Wednesday that it would have trouble meeting demand for some of its advanced cellphone chips for the rest of the year due to manufacturing constraints.
While the leading mobile phone chip maker maintained its previous revenue outlook for its fiscal year 2012, its shares fell 3 per cent as investors had hoped it would be able to raise its targets.
"At this stage we cannot secure enough supply to meet the increasing demand we are experiencing," chief executive officer Paul Jacobs told analysts on a conference call, adding that the issue would limit revenue growth this year.
The San Diego-based company is already working on bringing on several new suppliers of cutting-edge 28 nanometer chip manufacturing technology but executives said it would not see a significant improvement in supply until the December quarter, which the first quarter of its fiscal year 2013.
Qualcomm rival Nvidia Corp. also complained last month of delays in ramping up the new manufacturing technology.
Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said that on top of the disappointment over full year targets, Qualcomm's forecast for third quarter chip shipments of 144 million to 152 million also fell below his expectation for 157 million.
"People were bulled up into the quarter," said Mr. Rasgon.
Qualcomm kept its forecast for full-year revenue but raised the high end of its earnings per share forecast to a range of $3.61 to $3.76 from its previous range of $3.55 to $3.75.
However it was not enough to impress investors.
It posted a profit of $2.23-billion, or $1.28 per diluted share, for its second fiscal quarter ended March 25, compared with $999-million, or 59 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Qualcomm said revenue rose 28 per cent to $4.94-billion from $3.87-billion in the year ago quarter and handily beat Wall Street expectations for $4.84-billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Qualcomm shares fell to $64.69 in late trade after closing at $66.98 on Nasdaq.