$22B Deal: Skyworks to buy Qorvo, creating an iPhone radio-chip supplier with $7.7B in sales

Two of Apple’s core radio-frequency suppliers are combining in a $22 billion cash-and-stock deal, consolidating power in the smartphone RF stack just as 5G/6G roadmaps, Wi-Fi 7, and tighter device margins raise the stakes. In RF, scale sets pricing, wins the sockets, and determines leverage with Cupertino.

Skyworks will acquire Qorvo, creating a U.S.-based RF, analog, and mixed-signal player with pro-forma $7.7 billion last-twelve-months revenue and $2.1 billion adjusted EBITDA. Qorvo shareholders will receive $32.50 in cash plus 0.960 Skyworks share per Qorvo share; the combined company will be owned 63% by Skyworks holders and 37% by Qorvo holders. Closing is guided for early 2027, pending shareholder votes and regulatory approvals. On announcement, both stocks rallied, landing among the S&P 500’s top intraday gainers.

With global handset units essentially flat, RF vendors are bulking up to extract cost synergies and push into adjacent end-markets such as defense, autos, IoT, and data centers. Apple exposure remains the swing factor: one fewer major supplier could harden pricing and extend design cycles, even as large OEMs explore more in-house components. Activist Starboard Value (≈8% of Qorvo) publicly backed the combination, lowering execution risk. Governance is set: Skyworks CEO Phil Brace will lead the merged company, while Qorvo CEO Bob Bruggeworth will join the board.

If regulators clear it, a $22B U.S. RF champion with $7.7B in sales and $2.1B in EBITDA emerges—aiming for hundreds of millions in synergies and tighter integration across mobile and Wi-Fi front-ends. For rivals, the bar to compete for iPhone sockets just rose; for OEMs, fewer vendors may mean firmer prices and longer roadmaps.