Qualcomm vs Xiaomi: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Qualcomm reported $44.3B of revenue in FY2025 and $5.5B of net income. Xiaomi reported ~$63.6B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$5.8B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Qualcomm
Qualcomm's revenue has swung with the smartphone cycle: $44.2B in FY2022, $35.8B in FY2023, $39.0B in FY2024 and a record $44.284B in FY2025. FY2025 operating income was $12.355B, but GAAP net income dropped to $5.541B because of a large non-cash income tax charge booked in the September 2025 quarter. FY2026 has been tougher on the top line. Q2 revenue was $10.599B, and Q3 revenue fell 4% year over year to $9.9B with GAAP EPS of $1.87 and non-GAAP EPS of $2.21, as higher memory costs squeezed handset demand. QTL revenue was $1.3B in Q3. Qualcomm returned $2.3B to shareholders that quarter and guided Q4 FY2026 revenue to $9.7B-$10.5B.
Xiaomi
FY2025 was Xiaomi's strongest year: revenue rose 25.0% to ~$63.6B (RMB457.3B), profit attributable to owners was ~$5.78B (RMB41.6B), and adjusted net profit rose 43.8% to ~$5.45B (RMB39.2B). The Smart EV, AI and other new initiatives segment more than tripled to ~$14.7B (RMB106.1B) on 411,082 vehicle deliveries and posted its first full-year operating profit. 2026 has been weaker. Q1 revenue was ~$13.8B (RMB99.1B) (down 10.9%) with adjusted net profit of ~$848M (RMB6.1B) (down 43.1%). Q2 revenue was ~$15.1B (RMB108.9B) (down 6.1%) with adjusted net profit of ~$862M (RMB6.2B) (down 42.6%) and a 19.8% gross margin. In Q2 the EV segment had ~$3.46B (RMB24.9B) of revenue and an operating loss of about $361M (RMB2.6B).
Revenue and profit by year
Qualcomm
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $44.3B | $5.5B | 12.5% | +13.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $39B | $10.1B | 26.0% | +8.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $35.8B | $7.2B | 20.2% | -19.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | $44.2B | $12.9B | 29.3% | +31.7% | Source |
| FY2021 | $33.6B | $9B | 26.9% | +42.6% | Source |
| FY2020 | $23.5B | $5.2B | 22.1% | -3.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $24.3B | $4.4B | 18.1% | +7.4% | Source |
| FY2018 | $22.6B | -$5B | -22.0% | +1.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $22.3B | $2.4B | 11.0% | -5.5% | Source |
| FY2016 | $23.6B | $5.7B | 24.2% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Qualcomm
- QCT Handsets~63%
Snapdragon processors, modems and RF chips for smartphones: $27.793B in FY2025. Handset revenue fell 20% to $5.1B in Q3 FY2026 as memory costs hurt phone demand.
- QCT IoT~15%
Chips for industrial devices, networking, XR headsets, PCs and consumer electronics: $6.617B in FY2025 and $1.8B in Q3 FY2026.
- QCT Automotive~9%
Snapdragon Digital Chassis cockpit, ADAS and connectivity platforms: $3.957B in FY2025, up from $2.9B in FY2024, and $1.6B in Q3 FY2026 (up 61%).
- QTL Licensing and other~13%
Royalties on Qualcomm's cellular patents plus smaller strategic initiatives. QTL revenue was $1.3B in Q3 FY2026 at a 69% EBT margin, making it a disproportionate profit contributor.
Xiaomi
- Smartphones
40.8% (FY2025)
~$25.9B (RMB186.4B) from Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO phones.
- IoT, Lifestyle Products and Internet Services
36.0% (FY2025)
Remainder of the Smartphone x AIoT segment, including appliances, TVs, wearables, advertising and games.
- Smart EV, AI and Other New Initiatives
23.2% (FY2025)
~$14.7B (RMB106.1B), mostly from SU7 and YU7 vehicle sales.
Business model and strategy
Qualcomm
How it makes money
Qualcomm earns money in two ways. QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) designs Snapdragon systems-on-chip, modems, RF front-end and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips and sells them to handset, automotive, PC and IoT customers; manufacturing is outsourced to foundries such as TSMC and Samsung. QCT produced $38.367B of FY2025 revenue, including $27.793B from handsets, $6.617B from IoT and $3.957B from automotive.
Growth strategy
Qualcomm's growth plan is to reuse Snapdragon's low-power compute, connectivity and AI engines outside phones. Automotive is the clearest win so far, with the Snapdragon Digital Chassis growing from $2.9B in FY2024 to $3.957B in FY2025 and $1.6B in Q3 FY2026 alone. Snapdragon X chips target Windows Copilot+ laptops. Industrial IoT and robotics carry a design-win pipeline above $7B.
Competitive advantage
Qualcomm's edge comes from pairing leading cellular modem and RF engineering with one of the largest portfolios of standard-essential wireless patents. That combination lets it sell integrated Snapdragon platforms (CPU, GPU, NPU, modem and RF) while still collecting royalties on phones that use rival chips. Its custom Oryon CPU cores, from the 2021 Nuvia deal, now run in both flagship phone and Windows PC chips.
Xiaomi
How it makes money
Xiaomi sells hardware at relatively thin margins and earns higher margins from internet services delivered through its installed base of devices, including advertising, app distribution and games. Smartphones were the largest single product line in FY2025 at ~$25.9B (RMB186.4B) of revenue. IoT products extend the ecosystem into homes, and many of them are made by ecosystem partner companies Xiaomi has invested in.
Growth strategy
Xiaomi's stated strategy is the Human x Car x Home ecosystem: sell more premium smartphones, add large appliances and other IoT categories, scale the car lineup, and invest in its own AI models and chips, such as the MiMo models and the XRING O1 processor.
Competitive advantage
Xiaomi's advantages are scale in smartphones (top three globally by shipments), a very wide range of connected products under one brand and one operating system, a large device base it can monetize through services, and a fast-growing car business that buyers can connect to the same ecosystem.
Questions about Qualcomm vs Xiaomi
Which company has higher revenue — Qualcomm Inc. or Xiaomi Corp.?
Qualcomm Inc. reported $44.3B (FY2025), while Xiaomi Corp. reported ~$63.6B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Xiaomi Corp. is the larger business, with Qualcomm Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Qualcomm Inc. vs Xiaomi Corp.?
Qualcomm Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $208.0B, while Xiaomi Corp.'s is $83.0B. Qualcomm Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Xiaomi Corp..
Which is more financially efficient — Qualcomm Inc. or Xiaomi Corp.?
Qualcomm Inc. generates $852k / employee in revenue per employee, while Xiaomi Corp. generates $1.12M / employee. Xiaomi Corp. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Qualcomm Inc. and Xiaomi Corp. make money?
Qualcomm Inc. and Xiaomi Corp. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Qualcomm Inc.: Qualcomm earns money in two ways. Xiaomi Corp.: Xiaomi sells hardware at relatively thin margins and earns higher margins from internet services delivered through its installed base of devices, including advertising, app distribution and games.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Qualcomm Inc. or Xiaomi Corp.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Qualcomm Inc. trades at 4.7x P/S and Xiaomi Corp. at 1.3x P/S. Qualcomm Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Xiaomi Corp.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Qualcomm Inc. bigger than Xiaomi Corp.?
By last reported revenue, Xiaomi Corp. (~$63.6B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Qualcomm Inc. ($44.3B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Qualcomm vs Xiaomi overview