Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[khemara_qc]

Qualcomm Set To Gain On Global Wireless Adoption
06.30.05, 9:29 AM ET


Prudential Equity Group raised its handset market forecasts for 2005 and 2006 and sees WCDMA growth in 2005 and 2006 of 127% and 80%, with 19% and 21% growth for CDMA, respectively. Prudential said that although it increased its 2006 WCDMA handset assumption to a range of 80 million to 90 million units, up from 76 million units, "we remain conservative relative to the approximately 100 million unit Street view." The research firm added, "We would not be surprised to see Street WCDMA forecasts come down from this level in the coming weeks." Prudential expects handset original equipment manufacturers to broaden product lines with more-affordable WCDMA devices to complement their high-end offerings. "We expect average selling prices to decline from $450 in 2005 to $325 in 2006, with higher sales volumes driving royalty revenue growth and chipset sales opportunities for Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people )," the firm said. The opening up of the Japanese market to vendors such as Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ), LG, and Samsung "will serve to drive greater innovation and adoption of 3G technology in this important early-adopter market, and increasingly open up that market to Qualcomm components as a result," Prudential said. The firm trimmed Qualcomm's fiscal 2005 earnings estimate to $1.15 per share from $1.18, and cut the 2006 estimate to $1.47 from $1.53. Prudential maintained an "overweight" rating on Qualcomm and said "the company remains uniquely well positioned to capitalize on the growing global adoption of spread-spectrum wireless technologies in the coming years."


http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/06/30/0630automarketscan02.html?partner=yahootix&referrer=