Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS)

How it makes money

Revenue comes from selling chips per unit shipped, tied directly to how many phones and other devices its customers build and how many Skyworks components go into each one. Because a large share of volume flows through a small number of very large device makers, pricing is negotiated with powerful buyers, and each new phone generation is effectively a fresh competition to keep or grow Skyworks' share of the radio-frequency content inside it.

Revenue by segment

Skyworks holds real engineering expertise in radio-frequency design, but it does not lock in customers the way a software platform would: Apple and other device makers can and do dual-source similar chips from Qorvo, Qualcomm and Broadcom, and negotiate hard on price each generation. Skyworks agreeing to be acquired by Qorvo is itself a sign that scale, not a durable edge held alone, is what the business needs.

Revenue rises and falls with smartphone unit shipments and the broader semiconductor inventory cycle, both of which swing sharply with consumer spending and how much inventory device makers are carrying at a given moment. A slowdown in iPhone sales, or Apple simply working down its own chip inventory, shows up quickly in Skyworks' results even without a change in end demand.

Key risks

• Heavy dependence on Apple — A single customer, Apple, drives the majority of Mobile segment revenue; any reduction in the content Skyworks supplies per iPhone, or a shift by Apple to more in-house or competing components, would hit results directly.
• Pending merger with Qorvo — Skyworks has agreed to combine with Qorvo; completion is not guaranteed, carries termination fees up to $298.7 million if the deal falls apart, and will require substantial new debt and a complex integration if it closes.
• Cyclical, competitive semiconductor market — The radio-frequency chip market is intensely competitive and prone to sharp swings in demand and pricing tied to smartphone cycles and broader inventory corrections across the industry.
• Manufacturing and supply chain concentration — Skyworks depends on a limited number of internal and third-party manufacturing sites for wafers and assembly; a disruption at any one of them can constrain how much product the company can ship.

Skyworks discloses that Apple, across multiple distributors and contract manufacturers, made up more than 10% of net revenue in fiscal 2025, without stating the exact figure; Apple has historically represented the large majority of Mobile segment revenue.