Qualcomm is selling fewer phone chips, earning less on each and charging more for them

Qualcomm’s smartphone chip business shrank by about a quarter in the September quarter, according to the company’s latest earnings report. Handset chip revenue fell 26% to $5.14 billion from $6.96 billion a year ago, wiping out roughly $1.8 billion in sales and missing the StreetAccount estimate of $5.21 billion. Adjusted earnings per share dropped 28% to $2.17, adjusted pre-tax profit fell 30%, and total adjusted revenue slipped 7% to $10.44 billion.Its chips are about to get more expensive too. The Snapdragon maker is raising prices across its products, citing rising costs in wafer fabrication, chip packaging, memory and other materials. It already raised prices in September, and phone chip sales fell anyway. The stock slid as much as 7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company’s forecast for the current quarter came in below expectations. Before the results, it was up just 1.3% for the year.