Qualcomm quarterly profit falls 54% on competition fines

(Telecompaper) Qualcomm reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profits, hurt by a charge for a competition fine in Korea. Net earnings dropped 54 percent to USD 0.7 billion orUSD 0.44 per share, with the decline entirely due to the charge of USD 868 million or 49 cents a share. Qualcomm had previously forecast higher EPS of USD 0.91-1.01 compared to USD 0.99 a year earlier. Revenues were up 4 percent year-on-year and 3 percent lower versus Q3 at USD 6.0 billion, in line with the company's outloo