When it comes to OC semiconductor companies, Broadcom Inc. is just plain strong and getting stronger.
The company, founded 35 years ago, had an estimated 1,300 employees in OC as of January, placing it in the No. 1 spot on the Business Journal’s rankings of the largest semiconductor companies by local headcount.
Broadcom had 29 jobs in Irvine posted as of Jan. 14, including chip architect, hardware engineer and chip power integrity engineer.
“We see the momentum continuing in Q1 and expect AI semiconductor revenue to double year-over-year to $8.2 billion,” Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan said in December as he presented fourth-quarter financial results (Nasdaq: AVGO).
Broadcom shares have grown 50% over the past year and were trading at $340 each on Jan. 14 with a $1.6 trillion market cap.
Tower Semiconductor, based in Israel, nudged up its headcount slightly from 860 to 876 to take the No. 2 spot (Nasdaq: TSEM). In November, it renewed its lease on a 320,000-square-foot wafer chip facility off Jamboree Road near the Newport Beach-Irvine city line.
Skyworks Solutions, based in Irvine, kept its local headcount steady at an estimated 563, ranking No. 3 among the 18 local companies surveyed and estimated (Nasdaq: SWKS).
“We are really at the center of wireless communications,” Skyworks CEO Phil Brace told the Business Journal in August. “People are figuring out that semiconductors are key to pretty much everything in the modern world.”
The semiconductor ranking showed the total OC employment for the companies was little changed—4,058 in January versus 4,072 in the same month of 2025, a 0.3% dip.
Microchip Tech Says It’s ‘Well Positioned’
No. 6 Microchip Technology, while headquartered in Arizona, has a large presence in Irvine with 166 employees.
“Overall, we expect broad-based growth across the industry, and Microchip is well-positioned to support customers by delivering innovative solutions that address these evolving market needs,” President and CEO Steve Sanghi said in an annual review (Nasdaq: MCHP).
Indie Semiconductor, which is developing sensors and chips to improve car safety and handling, was No. 8, with its local workforce steady at an estimated 100 employees at the Aliso Viejo headquarters (Nasdaq: INDI).
Syntiant, which plans to go public in about a year, ranked No. 14 with its 37 local employees—down from 42 a year ago (see story, page 1).
Mobix Labs Seeks Defense Work
“Our technology is embedded in systems that are used around the world—including right here in Orange County,” Keyvan Samini, president and CFO of No. 10 Mobix Labs, told the Business Journal (Nasdaq: MOBX).
He added: “Thousands of people in OC interact with those systems every day—often without realizing Mobix is part of what enables them”.
The headcount at Irvine-based Movandi, which is pursuing breakthroughs in wireless communications, increased its local headcount to 30 from 28.
Movandi said in October it had raised $40 million in its latest round of financing.
“Orange County’s semiconductor ecosystem is robust and growing, offering job opportunities, workforce development, and a supportive environment for technology companies are all signs of a thriving region in high-tech and semiconductor innovation,” Movandi co-founder and CEO Maryam Rofougaran told the Business Journal in January.
Research Director Desmond Celo contributed to this report.
