March 17 (Reuters) - Smartphone chip designer Qualcomm ( QCOM )

on Tuesday unveiled a $20 billion stock buyback program

as it looks to take advantage of a steep drop in its share

price, which has been hit by a global memory supply crunch that

is expected to slow handset manufacturing.

Shares of the company rose more than 3% on Tuesday, after a

year-to-date drop of over 24% as the widespread shortage of

memory chips hit Qualcomm's ( QCOM ) customers, mainly smartphone makers.

The new buyback is in addition to its existing $2.1 billion

share buyback plan, the company said, adding that Qualcomm ( QCOM ) is

also increasing its quarterly cash dividend by more than 3% to

92 cents per share from 89 cents.

"We remain focused on stockholder returns and executing on

our ongoing diversification opportunities," CEO Cristiano Amon

said.

Qualcomm ( QCOM ) is among the largest smartphone chip providers in

the world, counting major Android players and iPhone-maker Apple

among its customers.

But it has been increasingly diversifying its business,

attempting to reduce its dependence on the smartphone industry

by working to enter the booming data center chip and autonomous

vehicle markets.