Mobile chip leader Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) has taken a beating this year. A nasty downturn in the smartphone industry -- driven by a sharp dropoff in consumer demand -- has made the excess inventory of mobile semiconductors a persistent problem. Revenue and profit have been down dramatically as a result. 

Things were looking even worse as Qualcomm was forecasting no revenue from Apple starting in 2024, as Apple has been clear it's been working on its own 5G connectivity chips to cut companies like Qualcomm from its supplier list. But Qualcomm and Apple just announced a new 5G chip supply agreement has been struck after all, and Qualcomm stock is rallying. Is it time to buy the depressed chipmaker?

As a reminder, back in 2019, Apple acquired the smartphone modem business (which designs chips for mobile connectivity) from Intel for $1 billion -- chump change for Apple. The potential payoff for Apple could have been massive, though; 5G connectivity chips from Qualcomm, as well as fellow Apple 5G connectivity supplier Broadcom, haul in many billions of dollars a year from Apple product sales. 

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Source Fool.com