Chipset IP company Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) has announced its FY2011 results for the 12 months ending 25 September.

Full year revenues were $14.96 billion, up 36 percent year-on-year.

Net income was $4.26 billion, up 31 percent.

The company's operating cash flow during the period was $4.9 billion, up 20 percent, while it also returned $1.49 billion to its shareholders split between dividend payments and share repurchases.

The past quarter

In terms of Qualcomm's Q4, revenue was up 39 percent year-on-year to $4.12 billion.

Net income was $1.06 billion, up 22 percent.

"I am very pleased with our performance this year as we delivered record revenues, earnings and MSM chipset shipments, driven by the popularity of smartphones, continued adoption of 3G technologies, particularly in emerging regions, and our industry-leading patent portfolio," said Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm's chairman and CEO.

"The breadth and depth of our chipset roadmap, extensive licensing program and diverse set of global partnerships position us well for strong revenue and earnings growth in fiscal 2012."

Nation of millions

Breaking down the business, Qualcomm shipped 127 million CDMA MSM chipsets in Q4 (up 14 percent y-o-y), and 483 million units up 21 percent y-o-y during the 12 month period.

Its Snapdragon architecture was the main driver of sales in terms of high-end smartphone chips, featuring in all Windows Phone devices to-date, as well as over 250 Android phones and over 40 tablets such as Sony Ericsson's Xperia range, HTC Desire and Sensation families.

The company ended the period with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities worth $20.9 billion.

This is up $700 million from three months ago, although down on the $22 billion it had amassed six months ago. 

[source: Qualcomm IR (PDF)]