Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc., the largest maker of mobile-phone chips, said the U.S. financial crisis will hurt future earnings and showed it already had a $327 million impact on profit.

Soured investments in failed banks Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc. pulled down Qualcomm's earnings per share by 15 cents in the quarter ended Sept. 28. It was also hurt by investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage financiers taken over by the U.S. government in September.

Qualcomm said sales this quarter may fall as much as 6 percent, which would be the first decline since 2001. That forecast aligns it with other technology companies that predicted a shrinking economy will curb demand for their products.

What makes Qualcomm stand out is the effect its investments have already had on profit. The company wrote off about $100 million of investments in the troubled financial firms and has an additional $1.2 billion that may be impaired, Qualcomm President Steve Altman said today in a phone interview.

``It's really difficult to forecast in this environment,'' said Altman. ``We disclosed that we have unrealized losses of $1.2 billion and it's possible that that could be impaired if market conditions don't improve over time.''

The company, based in San Diego, began shifting its investments from equity to bonds earlier this year, Chief Financial Officer Bill Keitel said today on a conference call.

The impairment reported today affected about 3 percent of Qualcomm's $11.3 billion in cash and securities, the company said.

Investment Writedowns

Net income in the period ended Sept. 28 fell 29 percent to $878 million, or 52 cents a share, from $1.13 billion, or 67 cents, a year earlier, when Qualcomm had a one-time tax gain.

Investment impairments in fiscal 2008 totaled $502 million, up from $16 million in 2007 and $20 million in 2006. Net investment income fell to $96 million, or 3 percent of total net income, in 2008 from $743 million, or 22 percent, last year.

Qualcomm fell 1.7 percent to $32.50 in after-hours trading after dropping $2.12 to $33.05 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock has lost 16 percent this year, compared with a 46 percent decline by the 18-member Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 6, 2008 20:01 EST