Qualcomm slips in third quarter, but is optimistic about the full year

Chipmaking giant Qualcomm (QCOM), which has bucked the down market during the recession, continues to perform relatively well. Today, the San Diego-Calif.-based company reported that its fiscal third-quarter profit dropped 1.5 percent to $737 million, or 44 cents per share. That's down from $748 million, or 45 cents per share, one year earlier. Revenue was down just 0.3 percent to $2.75 billion.

Qualcomm, which makes chips for cell phones and licenses its CDMA-based technology to handset manufacturers and wireless equipment makers, says that there is healthy demand in the market for cell phones, a good sign for the economy.