Qualcomm Inc. has upped its profit and revenue forecasts for the third-quarter 2009, after a sudden surge in the worldwide demand for mobile phone chips.

“Our increased guidance reflects stronger-than-expected demand for more data-capable chipsets and increased licensing revenues driven in part by advanced 3G network upgrades,” Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said in a statement.

However, it has warned against a drop in the sale in the next quarter, due to the unpredictable economic climate, sending the shares at the company down by less than 1 percent.

Qualcomm now expects its revenue to be $2.67 billion to $2.77 billion for the third quarter ending on June 28, as against the earlier forecast of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion.

Its operating income, minus investment arm and other special items, is raised to $1.06 billion to $1.11 billion, from a previous target of $800 million to $900 million.

And the total chips that will be shipped, is expected to be in the range of 94 million to 95 million for the current quarter, up from its earlier expectation for 87 million to 92 million.

“While some chipset demand for developing markets has shifted to the fourth fiscal quarter and demand remains generally strong, due to the current economic environment we remain cautious and currently project a modest sequential decrease in chipset shipments,” added Paul Jacobs.

But, an outlook for earnings-per-share wasn’t released citing market volatility.