Qualcomm Snapdragon shortages impacting vendors building Android and Windows Phone-based smartphones.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

Qualcomm Snapdragon shortages impacting vendors building Android and Windows Phone-based smartphones. 

Shares in Qualcomm dipped in after-hours trading Wednesday night after the US chip giant warned on its latest earnings call that it is struggling to meet demand for its latest S4 Snapdragon chips.

According to a BBC report, Qualcomm said that the third-party factories to which it subcontracts the manufacture of the 28nm chips would not be able to create enough supply until the end of the year – potentially impacting vendors building Android and Windows Phone-based smartphones.

On its fiscal Q2 earnings call Wednesday, Qualcomm COO Steve Mollenkopf admitted that the firm had underestimated demand for its Snapdragon chips, and was trying to push some of its other products as an alternative.

"In any constrained environment, people look for any alternative they can in order to solve the problem," he said. "We've been helping customers to see how they can swap in our Fusion 2 chipset... but we do expect to see some alternative non-Qualcomm chipsets used to solve that issue as well."

He added that the firm was acting to outsource production to other fabricators in addition to its key supplier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

The firm had earlier announced record revenue of US$4.94 billion for the quarter ending on 25 March, representing a 28 percent year-on-year and six percent sequential increase. Net income for the period was US$2.23 billion, up 123 percent year-on-year and 59 percent sequentially.

Qualcomm chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs said the company plans to increase its operating expenses to support additional production of 28nm chips and position itself for “opportunities ahead.”