San Francisco, Nov 2 (IANS): The US chipmaker Qualcomm's legal battle with Apple did not dampen its growth as the company beat estimates with $5.96 billion in sales in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year that ended September 30.

According to a report in Tech Crunch late on Wednesday, the numbers bumped shares of the stock up 54 cents (or 1 per cent) in after-hours trading, to $54.

Qualcomm saw sales buoyed by increasing 3G and 4G penetration and growth in both the handset and Internet of Things (IoT) markets, said Steve Mollenkopf, Chief Executive, Qualcomm.

"We are very excited about the increased momentum of 5G around the world," Mollenkopf was quoted as saying.

The key reason for Qualcomm's strong results is growth in the company's business in China with original equipment manufacturers, the report added.

In January, Apple sued Qualcomm for nearly $1 billion for charging a hefty price for royalties on technologies that Apple said the chipmaker should not be associated with.

Apple also alleged that the chipmaker had been withholding payments it was owed.

Qualcomm later asked the US authorities to ban imports of some iPhone and iPad models and filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, accusing Apple's iPhones and iPads of infringing six of its mobile patents.

Qualcomm said all iPhones and iPads that contain competing mobile communications chips should be barred from the country.

Apple responded to this, saying that the company had tried to negotiate before suing and that Qualcomm is abusing its position.