RFMD vs skyworks - RF Cafe Forums

RF Cafe Forums closed its virtual doors in late 2012 mainly due to other social media platforms dominating public commenting venues. RF Cafe Forums began sometime around August of 2003 and was quite well-attended for many years. By 2012, Facebook and Twitter were overwhelmingly dominating online personal interaction, and RF Cafe Forums activity dropped off precipitously. Regardless, there are still lots of great posts in the archive that ware worth looking at. Below are the old forum threads, including responses to the original posts. Here is the full original RF Cafe Forums on Archive.org

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pigger

Post subject: RFMD vs skyworks Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:51 am

Yesterday I had an interview with skyworks located in CA, and HR person called me today saying that they are impressed with me, but have to make decision after interviewing 2 other candidates. The group is doing GSM and CDMA tranceiver design.

I already got an offer from RFMD located in the same city, the group is doing GPS receiver design.

Comparing two groups, I feel the one in skyworks is stronger. But I don't know which company has better future, can anybody here give me some comparison between them? Your opion will be highly appreciated.

BTW, the position is RF IC design engineer.

Thanks in advance.

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Guest

Post subject: helloPosted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:47 am

both skyworks and rfmd make a lot of money off of PA's, which gets them a lot of revenue and profit.

as for who will go farther -- no one knows, skyworks is larger, about twice as large, but for some reason, they don't consistently make a lot of money, and meet earnings, yet i know they they hire very good people, because they are well known.

your concern should be the team and the people you will be working with, i am unsure how old you are and how much experience you have, and what education, but the people, the expertise and how much you will learn and how much fun you will have is what is important. i think at least.

if you want me more help, send an email.

let me know how the company is, that you pick, i might want to do rfic there..

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pigger

Post subject: Re: helloPosted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:27 am

Thanks a lot for your opinion. One of my concerns about skyworks is that I heard they laid off lots of people during last couple of years. But I do like the group there more, and feel people in that group are pretty experienced and knowledgeable. Meanwhile RFMD seems more stable.

Tough decision for me. I have a couple of year design experience, but still feel not that strong myself.

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Guest

Post subject: oops posted this above by itself !!Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:08 am

do u have MS, PhD ?

no one is stable right now

skyworks did layoff because it merged (conexant with alpha)

but they have a different mentality than rfmd

skyworks is very very performance driven

rfmd is more laid back

man i need to get in there, i have few years in rfic too

if you can help let me know

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California Dreamer

Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:37 am

I hear that RFMD has a very good work environment, and a very generous benefits/vacation package. Don't know about Skyworks.

Anyone from Skyworks or RFMD care to divulge typical pay, vacation time, benefits, work environment (people, software, lab equipment), etc?

Thanks.

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Guest

Post subject: comparison...Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:00 pm

well one is HQed in North Carolina and the other in California.

so you have a different mentality, one is win at all costs, other more laid back and southern.

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pigger

Post subject: Re: comparison...Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:37 pm

so, do you mean working in skyworks is with lots of competition, and more challenging, and the company is with better future?

Anonymous wrote:

well one is HQed in North Carolina and the other in California.

so you have a different mentality, one is win at all costs, other more laid back and southern.

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pigger

Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:39 pm

I guess those big companies are with similar benefits and vacation plan.

California Dreamer wrote:

I hear that RFMD has a very good work environment, and a very generous benefits/vacation package. Don't know about Skyworks.

Anyone from Skyworks or RFMD care to divulge typical pay, vacation time, benefits, work environment (people, software, lab equipment), etc?

Thanks.

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pigger

Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:39 pm

I guess those big companies are with similar benefits and vacation plan.

California Dreamer wrote:

I hear that RFMD has a very good work environment, and a very generous benefits/vacation package. Don't know about Skyworks.

Anyone from Skyworks or RFMD care to divulge typical pay, vacation time, benefits, work environment (people, software, lab equipment), etc?

Thanks.

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California Dreamer

Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:38 pm

The two companies track each other almost exactly, so the laid-back Southerners vs. strung-out Californians doesn't seem to really affect the financial performance. Check this comparison chart.

https://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5y&s=RF ... q=l&c=swks

RFMD is credited for first using GaAs for celllphone PAs, and has highest market share for cellular, but they're lagging in wireless connectivity, mainly because they came to the game late.

Skyworks has some good integrated cellular solutions, but they don't do well in wireless either. Companies like Intersil, Broadcom and Atheros still rule there.

It basically comes down to who you'd rather work with.

:smt117

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 1:38 am

wow they track exactly, that's pretty cool.

anyways, i think it still comes down to the team, their experience, their modeling team, their experience, how many gurus they have and how much you have to learn.. you said you have only a few years (still don't know what degree you have -- probably you don't want to tell us) experience, so learning is what is important right now in RFIC. Do not worry about stability, because on this earth, right now, there is NO stability -- and who knows what the economy will do next.

you should be glad you have the chance, while you are young grow yourself and learn as much as you can, then you can be picky later.

pick the group where your feeling in your stomach with the people is best -- forget about the company.

just like dating a girl...

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pigger

Post subject: Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:50 pm

I don't mind to share my degree. I have a master.

And I definitely can refer you if I am lucky enough to get into one of them.

Right now, I prefer skyworks since the team is stronger. But they haven't made their final decision yet.

The only thing I can do now is to wait.

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Guest

Post subject: Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 1:07 pm

pigger wrote:

Right now, I prefer skyworks since the team is stronger.

Can you tell us in a little more detail why you prefer Skyworks over RFMD? It could help others later on.

Good luck to you, whatever your choice.

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pigger

Post subject: Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2004 4:59 pm

Just my own feeling.

The team in skyworks I wanna join is stronger. people there are more knowledgeable and experienced, with whom I probably can learn more.

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Guest

Post subject: helloPosted: Sat Jul 17, 2004 2:23 am

sorry i was being pushy about a referral.

but i think you made the right choice, you have to learn something now and then after 5-6 years (usually that much needed to be a good RFIC designer) then you can pick and choose where you want to go.

good luck !

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Guest

Post subject: MS/PhDPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 6:54 pm

i think without a MS or PhD it is not possible to be in RFIC today.

any opinions ?

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pigger

Post subject: Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 8:22 pm

BS + 5year experience would be ok

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Guest

Post subject: RFICPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:53 pm

how about BS with less than 5 years ?

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Myownself

Post subject: Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:09 pm

So Mr. P., are you working for either Skyworks of RF Micro Devices now?

If so, can you give us an idea of what was(were) the most important aspect(s) governing your final decision?

This could be instructive for other forum visitors.

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Guest

Post subject: gone !Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:52 am

guess he got his job, used us and then left !

thanks a lot !

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pigger

Post subject: Re: gone !Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 5:14 am

Anonymous wrote:

guess he got his job, used us and then left !

thanks a lot !

This is not the truth.

I just settled everything down, and give you guys some feedback here.

Thank everybody who gave me suggestion before.

Finally I chose RFMD since I didn't get the offer from skyworks. But I am satisfied with it because of the good reputation of RFMD.

Well, I don't know if my experience will be helpful to anybody else, but I hope everybody can get a job he likes.

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Guest

Post subject: questions...Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 11:26 pm

is everyone in your group a MSEE, or PhD ?

are they hiring people with less experience than 10 years ?

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ToughGuy

Post subject: Re: RFMD vs skyworksPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:43 pm

Hi can somebody let me know, how is the RFMD interview for a Test Engineer. What kind of questions are asked? I would be thankful if somebody can help me out regarding it.

Thanks.

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Carl Schumacher

Post subject: RFMD or SkyworksPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:13 pm

Both of these compaines have a lot going for them. Someone early said Skyworks was a larger company. This is false. Also in term of Stability RFMD is much more solid. With the amount of layoff (some very recently) that Skyworks has done I am surprised they are hiring. Technology speaky Skyworks is certainly exciting...but risky.

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guest

Post subject: rfmd layoffPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:11 pm

well rfmd just layed off their wlan group today

Posted  11/12/2012