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Last updated: Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Qualcomm Inc. posted a fiscal second-quarter loss Monday on a hefty payment to rival chip maker Broadcom Corp. to end legal disputes that spanned several continents. The settlement with Broadcom, announced late Sunday, calls for Qualcomm to pay $891 million over four years. Broadcom is a relative newcomer to the business of making chips for cell phones but proved to be a fierce legal adversary. Qualcomm lost $289 million, or 18 cents a share, during the three months ended March 29, compared to a profit of $766 million, or 47 cents a share, a year ago. The latest quarter includes a charge of $748 million, or 43 cents a share, to pay Broadcom. Qualcomm’s second-quarter revenue slid 5.8 percent to $2.46 billion from $2.61 billion, above an average estimate of $2.35 billion among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Its shares rose $2.36, or 5.7 percent, to $43.72 in morning trading. Broadcom shares gained 30 cents, 1.2 percent, to $24.52. The agreement with Broadcom comes nine months after Qualcomm made peace with Nokia Corp., the world’s largest cell phone maker. Ending the Broadcom fight removes a distraction for Qualcomm’s management and engineers and lifts uncertainty for Qualcomm customers, said Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm’s chairman and chief executive. “There were just a number of things that led us to decide that this was the right thing to do,” Jacobs said on a conference call with investors. “We had been in discussions with them on and off over a fairly long period of time and finally we were able to get to a solution that worked.” Qualcomm predicted fiscal third-quarter revenue between $2.4 billion and $2.6 billion, above an average analyst estimate of $2.35 billion but down from $2.76 billion last year. Qualcomm estimated third-quarter operating income between $550 million and $650 million, down from $820 million last year. In January, Qualcomm…

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Qualcomm Posts Loss on Legal Settlement

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