According to the Wall Street Journal, Qualcomm lowered its smartphone shipment forecast again last month and made a pessimistic assessment of the coming quarters. Akash Palkhiwala, the chief financial officer of Qualcomm, said that Qualcomm was reducing expenditures in mature business areas, making selective layoffs in certain functions and preparing for contingency plans.

According to the report, Qualcomm lowered its sales forecast of mobile phone chips from the previous median single digit decline to a lower double-digit percentage decline, and joined other consumer oriented businesses, which faced a sharp change in demand after the prosperity driven by the COVID-19 epidemic.

With regard to the development in 2023, Palkhiwala said: "There are many uncertainties in the world. There are macroeconomic environments, the situation in the United States, China and Europe, and the situation of the COVID-19 in China - how long will it take to solve. In the semiconductor industry, some of our customers have large inventories." Palkhiwala believes that it will take several quarters to solve the inventory problem.

As a result, Qualcomm is working hard to reduce operating costs and redouble its investment in new areas, including its automotive business. Palkhiwala said that the first thing Qualcomm is doing is to reduce its spending in more mature business areas and reallocate these resources and funds to the "automobile and Internet of Things" area, because these are the main drivers of Qualcomm's business growth. In addition, Qualcomm has also made selective layoffs in some functional departments. The third thing is that Qualcomm is preparing contingency plans.