Qualcomm on Wednesday posted quarterly revenue that missed expectations as smartphone sales were slow for the specific period. The chipmaker reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $6.37 billion, up 4 percent from the year-ago period.

Less growth than expected in recent months in China, where China Mobile is preparing to launch a new, faster network with 4G, or LTE, technology, hurt Qualcomm's results in the quarter, said Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf.

With growth in the smartphone industry moving toward China and other developing countries, Qualcomm's revenue growth is slowing and it is focusing on costs to preserve its profitability.

China and other developing countries are a major opportunity for the San Diego company as consumers upgrade from feature phones to smartphones and as China Mobile rolls out its 4G network with technology that Qualcomm dominates.

But China also presents challenges for Qualcomm as its competes with local rivals like MediaTek to sell chips used in smartphones made by Chinese manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi.

Qualcomm had second-quarter net income of $1.96 billion, up 5 percent. Qualcomm said revenue in the fiscal third quarter, which ends in June, would be between $6.2 billion and $6.8 billion.