UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-Q/A

(Amendment No. 1)

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2012

OR

For the transition period from            to            

Commission File Number 000-21507

POWERWAVE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

1801 E. St. Andrew Place, Santa Ana, CA 92705

(Address of principal executive offices, zip code)

(714) 466-1000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller-reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

As of November 2, 2012, the registrant had 31,770,931 shares of Common Stock outstanding.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Powerwave Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) is filing this Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-Q/A (this “Amendment”) to amend its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended September 30, 2012 (the “Form 10-Q”), which the Company originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on November 9, 2012. The sole purpose of this Amendment is to re-file Exhibit 10.1 that was originally filed with the Form 10-Q to address comments the Company received from the Staff of the Commission in response to a confidential treatment request filed by the Company with respect to certain portions of Exhibit 10.1.

This Amendment contains only the Cover Page to Form 10-Q, this Explanatory Note, Item 6 (Exhibits), the signature page to Form 10-Q, Exhibit 10.1, as amended, and Exhibits 31.1 and 31.2. No other changes have been made to the Form 10-Q. This Amendment speaks as of the original filing date of the Form 10-Q, does not reflect events occurring after the original filing date or modify or update those disclosures that may be affected by subsequent events, and no other changes are being made to any other disclosure contained in the Form 10-Q or any exhibits thereto.

As required by Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), new certifications by the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer are being filed herewith as exhibits to this Amendment pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) of the Exchange Act. However, the Company is not including certifications pursuant to Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code (18 U.S.C. 1350) as no financial statements are being filed with this Amendment.

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The following exhibits are filed as part of this report:

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

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