Broadcom Inc.
Business Model Analysis
How Broadcom Makes Money
Annual Revenue: $63.9B
Broadcom generates revenue primarily through Semiconductors & Enterprise Software, with roughly $63.9B in annual revenue.
Core Growth Engine: Broadcom's growth plan has two engines. In chips, it co-designs custom accelerators with a short list of customers, including Google's TPU, Meta's MTIA, OpenAI and Anthropic, and sells the Ethernet switches, network adap...
Revenue Model & Pricing
Broadcom reports two segments. Semiconductor Solutions sold $36.9 billion of chips in fiscal 2025: custom AI accelerators (XPUs) designed with hyperscale customers, Tomahawk and Jericho Ethernet switch chips, network adapters, optical components, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, RF filters for smartphones, broadband gateway chips and storage connectivity. Infrastructure Software brought in $27.0 billion, mostly VMware Cloud Foundation subscriptions plus mainframe, security and automation software from CA and Symantec. Most advanced chips are made by outside foundries, chiefly TSMC. The mix is moving quickly toward AI: in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 semiconductors were 70% of revenue, and AI chips alone were $16.7 billion of the $29.6 billion total.
Core Revenue Streams
Semiconductor Solutions
~58% (FY2025); 70% in Q3 FY2026Custom AI accelerators, Ethernet switch chips, network adapters, optics, broadband, storage connectivity, wireless and RF filters generated $36.9B in fiscal 2025 and $20.8B in Q3 fiscal 2026 alone, up 127% year over year.
Infrastructure Software
~42% (FY2025); 30% in Q3 FY2026VMware Cloud Foundation plus CA mainframe and Symantec security software generated $27.0B in fiscal 2025 and $8.8B in Q3 fiscal 2026, up 29%.
AI Semiconductor Revenue
56% of revenue in Q3 FY2026AI semiconductor revenue, a subset of Semiconductor Solutions, was about $20B in fiscal 2025 and $16.7B in Q3 fiscal 2026, with $21.7B guided for Q4.
Growth Strategy
Broadcom's growth plan has two engines. In chips, it co-designs custom accelerators with a short list of customers, including Google's TPU, Meta's MTIA, OpenAI and Anthropic, and sells the Ethernet switches, network adapters and optics that connect them. In software, it is moving VMware's installed base onto VMware Cloud Foundation subscriptions; VCF 9.0 shipped in June 2025 as a private-cloud alternative to the public cloud, and infrastructure software revenue rose 29% to $8.8 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026. Acquisitions, the historic third engine, have been on hold while VMware debt is paid down.
How Broadcom Makes Money: FAQ
How does Broadcom make money?
Through two segments. Semiconductor Solutions sold $36.9 billion of chips in fiscal 2025 and Infrastructure Software $27.0 billion of software. In Q3 fiscal 2026 the split was $20.8 billion and $8.8 billion.
How much of Broadcom's revenue comes from AI?
About $20 billion of $63.9 billion in fiscal 2025, roughly 31%. In Q3 fiscal 2026 AI semiconductor revenue was $16.7 billion, 56% of the $29.6 billion total.
Does Broadcom make its own chips?
Mostly not. It designs chips and relies on outside foundries, chiefly TSMC, for advanced manufacturing, while running some of its own fabrication for components such as RF filters.
How does Broadcom sell VMware?
As subscriptions, mainly the VMware Cloud Foundation bundle, after announcing the end of perpetual licenses in December 2023. Sales concentrate on large enterprises, with smaller customers served through a reduced partner network.
Who are Broadcom's biggest customers?
Custom AI chip customers include Google, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic, which Hock Tan said in September 2026 was on track to become the largest. Apple is a long-standing wireless and RF customer under multiyear agreements announced in May 2023.
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