Qualcomm unveils $20 billion stock buyback program

March 17 (Reuters) - Smartphone ‌chip designer ​Qualcomm ​on Tuesday unveiled a $20 billion stock buyback program as it looks to ‌take advantage of a steep drop in ⁠its share price, which has been hit by a ‌global memory supply crunch ‌that is expected to slow handset manufacturing.

Shares of the company rose more than 3% on ​Tuesday, after a year-to-date drop of over 24% as the widespread shortage of ⁠memory chips hit Qualcomm's customers, mainly smartphone makers.

The new buyback is ​in addition to its existing $2.1 billion share buyback plan, the company said, adding ​that Qualcomm is also ‌increasing its quarterly cash dividend by more than 3% to 92 cents ⁠per share from 89 cents.

"We remain focused on stockholder returns and executing on our ongoing diversification ⁠opportunities," CEO Cristiano Amon said.

Qualcomm is among the largest smartphone ​chip providers in the world, counting major Android players and iPhone-maker Apple among its customers.

But it has been ‌increasingly diversifying its business, attempting to reduce its dependence on the ‌smartphone industry by working to enter the booming ⁠data center chip ‌and autonomous vehicle ​markets.

(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Anil ‌D'Silva)

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