Three Customers, Each More Than a TenthThin moat

Qualcomm (QCOM) — moat facet

Most companies disclose an unnamed percentage. Qualcomm names Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, because in mobile there is no point pretending.

Three customers, each more than a tenth of revenue, and Qualcomm names them.

The disclosure, in Qualcomm's wordsNamed customers at 10%+Apple, Samsung, XiaomiImplied floor30% of revenueBeneath themOppo, Vivo, HonorChina share, FY2023 to FY202537% to 46%Most companies here disclose an unnamed percentage. In mobile there is no point.
Three counterparties, named, each more than a tenth.

The fiscal 2025 10-K states that revenues from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues.1 Most companies in this collection disclose concentration as an unnamed percentage — Nvidia's 22% customer, Broadcom's 32%, Marvell's 37% distributor.4 Qualcomm names them, because in mobile there is no point pretending.

The floor this puts under the concentration is arithmetic: three customers at 10% or more is at least 30% of revenue, and the true figure is well above that. Below them sit Oppo, Vivo, Honor and the rest of an industry that has consolidated hard over fifteen years.

What makes the position different from a straightforward dependency is the second relationship. All three are also QTL licensees, paying a royalty on every handset they ship regardless of whose chip is inside.2 The revenue at risk from losing a customer's chip business is large; the revenue at risk from losing the customer entirely is much larger and much less likely, because a handset maker that leaves Qualcomm's silicon still has to build phones that work on networks.

The concentration has also been getting worse rather than better. China including Hong Kong went from 37% of revenue in fiscal 2023 to 46% in 2025.3

The metric is revenue outside the named three, which the 10% threshold bounds but does not give.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

The named three have not diversified away; the China share beneath them has grown. Concentration by geography is rising while concentration by name stays put.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Concentration trend
China 37% to 46% of revenue in two years

The named three have not diversified away and the geography beneath them has concentrated further. Every measure of this dependency has moved the wrong way while total revenue grew — which is the specific reason the diversification target matters more than the diversification narrative.

Source: Qualcomm Form 10-K, FY2025 ↗
References
  1. ReportedThe fiscal 2025 10-K states that revenues from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues.
    Qualcomm Incorporated, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 28 September 2025 (SEC, CIK 804328) — Item 1, Business, and the revenue-concentration and geographic disclosures. Qualcomm operates through QCT (semiconductors) and QTL (licensing), with QSI making strategic investments. QTL grants licences to portions of a patent portfolio including rights essential to and/or useful in the manufacture and sale of certain wireless products. In fiscal 2025 revenues from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues. Revenues by country, reported by customer or licensee headquarters: China including Hong Kong $20,340M (46%), United States $10,515M (24%), South Korea $9,542M (21%), other foreign $3,887M (9%), total $44,284M; the equivalent 2023 figures were $13,386M (37%), $10,503M (29%), $8,075M (23%) and $3,856M (11%). Approximately 52,000 full-time, part-time and temporary workers at 28 September 2025, in over 200 locations in 38 countries, with a voluntary turnover rate around 6%. Named registry and semiconductor competitors and the risk factors relating to customer vertical integration are set out in the same Item. — FY2025 · publ. 2025-11-05 · source ↗
  2. ReportedAll three are also QTL licensees, paying a royalty on every handset they ship regardless of whose chip is inside.
    Qualcomm Incorporated, Form 10-K FY2025 — Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis, and the reportable-segment note. QCT revenues $38,367M (2024 $33,196M, 2023 $30,382M) with EBT of $11,670M ($9,527M, $7,924M) at 30% of revenues (29%, 26%); QCT revenue streams handsets $27,793M ($24,863M, $22,570M), automotive $3,957M ($2,910M, $1,872M) and IoT $6,617M ($5,423M, $5,940M). QTL revenues $5,582M ($5,572M, $5,306M) against total costs and expenses of $1,539M ($1,545M, $1,678M), for EBT of $4,043M ($4,027M, $3,628M) — 72% of revenues in each of the three years. Reportable-segment revenues $43,949M, $38,786M and $35,716M against consolidated revenues of $44,284M, $38,962M and $35,820M. During the second quarter of fiscal 2025 Qualcomm executed final agreements for new long-term licensing arrangements. — FY2025 · publ. 2025-11-05 · source ↗
  3. ReportedChina including Hong Kong went from 37% of revenue in fiscal 2023 to 46% in 2025.
    Qualcomm Incorporated, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 28 September 2025 (SEC, CIK 804328) — Item 1, Business, and the revenue-concentration and geographic disclosures. Qualcomm operates through QCT (semiconductors) and QTL (licensing), with QSI making strategic investments. QTL grants licences to portions of a patent portfolio including rights essential to and/or useful in the manufacture and sale of certain wireless products. In fiscal 2025 revenues from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each comprised 10% or more of consolidated revenues. Revenues by country, reported by customer or licensee headquarters: China including Hong Kong $20,340M (46%), United States $10,515M (24%), South Korea $9,542M (21%), other foreign $3,887M (9%), total $44,284M; the equivalent 2023 figures were $13,386M (37%), $10,503M (29%), $8,075M (23%) and $3,856M (11%). Approximately 52,000 full-time, part-time and temporary workers at 28 September 2025, in over 200 locations in 38 countries, with a voluntary turnover rate around 6%. Named registry and semiconductor competitors and the risk factors relating to customer vertical integration are set out in the same Item. — FY2025 · publ. 2025-11-05 · source ↗
  4. ReportedNvidia disclosed two direct customers at 22% and 14% of revenue in fiscal 2026, and Marvell a single distributor at 37% of net revenue.
    NVIDIA Form 10-K, FY2026 — "For fiscal year 2026, sales to one direct customer represented 22% of total revenue and sales to another direct customer represented 14% of total revenue"; FY2025: one at 12% and two at 11% each; FY2024: one at 13%. Direct customers include OEMs, ODMs, distributors and system integrators; indirect customers (CSPs, Neocloud builders, AI model makers, enterprises, public sector) buy through them, and NVIDIA "estimate[s] some individually representing 10% or more of our revenue". "Our revenue is concentrated among a limited number of direct and indirect customers and this trend may continue." — FY2026 (ended Jan 25, 2026) · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026