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Qualcomm supplies the processors and connectivity chips that manufacturers build into smartphones, vehicles and other connected devices. Its Snapdragon and Dragonwing platforms combine computing, wireless connections and software. Chip sales account for most revenue, with handsets the largest business; automotive and Internet of Things products contribute smaller portions. Qualcomm outsources most chip production to suppliers including TSMC and Samsung Electronics.
Manufacturers also pay Qualcomm to use its patented technologies. This licensing business earns mainly royalties on each device sold, generally based on the complete device’s wholesale price rather than the chip’s price. Most licensing revenue comes from devices using 4G and 5G technologies. These payments depend on manufacturers’ device sales and prices, continued license agreements and patents that remain relevant to wireless standards. Qualcomm has committed to license standard-essential patents in line with its obligations to standards bodies.
A small group of customers and licensees, including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, supplies a significant share of revenue. Apple has begun using its own modems in some smartphones instead of Qualcomm’s chips. Export rules also restrict whom Qualcomm can supply: the United States revoked its license to sell Huawei certain chips, including 4G products.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Qualcomm’s results hinge on smartphone demand and the chips it supplies per phone: watch major customers Samsung and Xiaomi, rival MediaTek, and primary chip manufacturer TSMC, which is absent from this list.
Apple pays Qualcomm for modem chips and technology licenses, but its shift to in-house modems threatens Qualcomm’s chip revenue; the two also compete in PC processors. Watch how widely Apple uses its own modems in new smartphones, rather than its consumer-device sales alone.
Skyworks competes with Qualcomm for smartphone makers’ spending on components that handle wireless radio signals, or RF chips. Its smartphone-component business is the relevant comparison for Qualcomm’s RF front-end products, rather than its other markets.
Broadcom competes with Qualcomm to sell manufacturers chips that connect wireless devices and network equipment. Watch Broadcom’s Wireless Device Connectivity and Networking Connectivity businesses for this rivalry, not its infrastructure software.
Qualcomm uses processor architecture licensed from Arm, which charges chip designers access fees and royalties on shipped chips. Arm’s licensing terms matter to Qualcomm’s computing plans; watch its pending appeal of the judgment in Qualcomm’s favor in the Nuvia licensing dispute.
NXP Semiconductors competes with Qualcomm for automotive and IoT equipment makers’ purchases of processors and connectivity chips. Its automotive and Industrial & IoT products are the parts to watch against Qualcomm’s automotive Snapdragon and industrial Dragonwing offerings.
Qualcomm relies on GlobalFoundries to manufacture chips it designs, making GlobalFoundries a primary supplier rather than a rival for device sales. Its manufacturing yields, production timing and geographically diverse factories are relevant to the chip supply Qualcomm buys.
Qualcomm pays Amkor to package and test its chips, relying on an outside supplier for these production steps. Qualcomm accounted for 11.1% of Amkor’s net sales in the year ended December 31, 2025, making that customer business a direct connection to Qualcomm’s chip activity.
Intel competes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon computing platforms for PC manufacturers’ processor choices. Watch Intel’s PC platforms and processors in CCG for this contest, rather than its data-center or foundry businesses.
AMD competes with Qualcomm to sell laptop manufacturers the processors they choose for their designs, pitting AMD’s client processors against Snapdragon PC processors.
Mobileye Global Inc. competes with Qualcomm to sell automakers computing technology for advanced driver assistance, or ADAS. Substantially all Mobileye revenue in fiscal 2025 came from deployed ADAS solutions, making that revenue a focused view of the market Qualcomm is pursuing.
NVIDIA competes with Qualcomm for automakers’ purchases of computing platforms for assisted and autonomous driving. Its automotive platforms and driving software are the relevant business to watch, rather than its data-center or gaming products.
Synaptics Inc competes with Qualcomm to sell connected-device makers chips that process data on the device and provide wireless connections. Its edge processors and connectivity products are the overlap to watch against Qualcomm’s IoT offerings, rather than its touch and biometric products.
Ambarella competes with Qualcomm to sell automotive and IoT manufacturers chips that combine image processing and AI on one chip. Watch its automotive vision and IoT AI products, including CVflow chips, for competition with Qualcomm’s driving-assistance and IoT computing businesses.
Amkor Technology Inc earningsAMKR
Amkor’s report offers a read on demand and supplier conditions in the chip packaging and testing that Qualcomm relies on.
Start with Amkor’s sales and margins. If both strengthen, demand and operating conditions in packaging and testing look supportive for Qualcomm, which outsources these steps; if sales or margins weaken, watch for softer supplier demand or pressure on costs and pricing. Amkor-wide figures do not establish Qualcomm’s orders, costs or supply, and cannot by themselves show a change in Qualcomm’s chip shipments. The conclusion is whether an important outside supplier’s business conditions look healthy.
NXP Semiconductors N.V. earningsNXPI
NXP’s report will show how automotive and industrial customers are buying processors and connectivity chips in markets Qualcomm is pursuing.
Read NXP’s automotive business separately from its Industrial & IoT business. Growth in both would point to solid customer demand for chips in markets Qualcomm is pursuing with automotive Snapdragon and industrial Dragonwing products; a decline in either would signal a harder backdrop in that market. NXP’s sales do not prove that Qualcomm has won or lost a design. The conclusion is whether the automotive and industrial markets Qualcomm is targeting are expanding or weakening.
Skyworks Solutions Inc earningsSWKS
Skyworks’ report will show smartphone makers’ demand for radio-frequency components, a part of the supply chain that overlaps with Qualcomm’s RF front-end products.
Focus on Skyworks’ smartphone-component business, not its other markets. Stronger sales would show firmer smartphone-maker demand for RF components and a more supportive backdrop for Qualcomm’s RF front-end products; weaker sales could reflect softer purchasing or other pressures. Skyworks’ results also depend on its own product mix and customer share, so they are not a proxy for Qualcomm’s sales. The conclusion is whether demand for smartphone RF components is strengthening.
Apple Inc. earningsAAPL
Apple’s report will offer clues to how widely it is using its own modems in new iPhones, which affects Qualcomm’s chip sales to this major customer.
Watch for whether Apple indicates that more new iPhone models use its own modems, rather than relying on total iPhone sales alone. Wider use would mean fewer Qualcomm modem chips sold to Apple; if Qualcomm reports its Apple handset revenue or shipments, it would also put pressure on an important customer revenue stream. Continued broad use of Qualcomm modems would mean this substitution is advancing more slowly. Apple’s total phone sales do not identify whose modem is inside; the conclusion is whether Apple’s shift to its own chips is expanding.
Qualcomm Inc earningsThis company
Qualcomm’s report will show whether premium Android handset chips can keep driving its revenue and profit, with automotive, IoT and licensing helping offset pressure from Apple’s move to its own modems.
Read QCT handset revenue and shipments alongside its earnings before tax (EBT) margin, then compare them with QTL licensing revenue. Higher revenue per chipset and more shipments, with the EBT margin holding up, would show that both pricing and volume support the chip business; revenue growth driven mainly by higher revenue per chipset while shipments weaken, or a falling margin, would make that growth less solid. Steady QTL revenue would show that royalties on licensed products still support the business; a decline would weaken this higher-margin source of profit. The conclusion is whether chip growth can absorb Apple’s shift toward its own modems and licensing can continue to provide a backstop.
