Broadcom

Broadcom Inc.

File:Broadcom logo.svg Logo since 2016
Company type	Public
Industry	Semiconductors, Infrastructure software
Predecessor	Avago Technologies Limited, Broadcom Corporation
Founded	2005 (2005)
Founder	Private equity firms KKR and Silver Lake Partners (as Avago Technologies)
Headquarters	Palo Alto, California , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Tan Hock Eng (President and CEO)
Products	Semiconductor components, infrastructure software solutions
Number of employees	(not specified)
Parent	None
Website	broadcom.com

Broadcom Inc. is a U.S.-based multinational corporation specializing in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide distribution of semiconductor components and infrastructure software solutions. Its product portfolio caters to sectors including data centers, networking, software, broadband, wireless communications, storage, and industrial applications. As of 2024, semiconductor sales account for 58% of its total revenue, while infrastructure software and related services contribute the remaining 42%.

The company’s president and chief executive officer (CEO) is Tan Hock Eng. Broadcom’s main headquarters are located in Palo Alto, California. Originally operating under the name Avago Technologies Limited, the firm rebranded to Broadcom following its acquisition of Broadcom Corporation in January 2016. The combined company now trades on the stock market with the ticker symbol AVGO; the previous BRCM ticker from Broadcom Corporation was discontinued. Prior to adopting its current name in November 2017, it was briefly known as Broadcom Limited.

In October 2019, Broadcom faced an interim antitrust directive from the European Union concerning alleged violations of EU competition regulations.

In May 2022, Broadcom declared its intent to acquire VMware in a deal valued at $69 billion in cash and stock, which was finalized on November 22, 2023.

Amid rapid growth driven by the AI boom, Broadcom’s market value exceeded US$1 trillion by December 2024, securing its place among the world’s most valuable corporations.

Hewlett-Packard Origins

The roots of what is now Broadcom Inc. trace back to 1961 with the establishment of HP Associates, a semiconductor division within Hewlett-Packard. This division separated from Hewlett-Packard during the spinoff that created Agilent Technologies in 1999.

Establishment of Avago Technologies

In 2005, private equity firms KKR and Silver Lake Partners purchased Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group for $2.6 billion, leading to the creation of Avago Technologies. That same year, Avago divested its I/O solutions segment to PMC-Sierra for $42.5 million.

Avago filed for an initial public offering (IPO) aiming to raise $400 million in August 2008. Shortly thereafter, in October 2008, it acquired Infineon Technologies' bulk acoustic wave business located in Munich for €21.5 million. The company officially launched on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol AVGO on August 6, 2009.

The company pursued growth through strategic acquisitions and investments: it purchased CyOptics, an optical chip manufacturer, for $400 million in April 2013 to enhance its fiber optics capabilities and invested $5 million in Amantys, a power electronics firm, in October 2013.

In December 2013, Avago announced plans to acquire LSI Corporation for $6.6 billion, marking a significant shift toward mainstream semiconductor markets such as data center storage solutions. Subsequently, it sold LSI’s solid-state drive (SSD) controller division to Seagate Technology in May 2014.

By August 2014, Avago had become the ninth-largest semiconductor company worldwide. It sold LSI's Axxia Networking unit to Intel for $650 million and acquired integrated circuit designer PLX Technology for $309 million. In February 2015, Avago agreed to purchase Emulex Corporation at a price of $8 per share in cash.

Acquisition and Rebranding as Broadcom Limited

On 28 May 2015, Avago announced its $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom Corporation, consisting of $17 billion in cash and $20 billion in stock. Although Avago was the surviving entity in name, the merged company adopted the name Broadcom Ltd., reporting annual revenues of $15 billion and achieving a market capitalization of $77 billion. This merger notably enhanced Avago’s patent holdings across mobile, data center, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, elevating it to the position of ninth largest patent holder among leading semiconductor companies. The deal was finalized on 1 February 2016.

In May 2016, Cypress Semiconductor purchased Broadcom Corporation’s IoT product line for $550 million. This acquisition encompassed technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee connectivity, along with Broadcom’s WICED platform and software development kit (SDK). The transaction integrated Broadcom’s IoT developer resources with Cypress’ programmable system-on-chip (SoC) solutions designed for low-power applications.

Regulatory Scrutiny and Transition to Broadcom Inc.

Broadcom’s proposed $5.5 billion cash acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems in 2016 faced delays due to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). To circumvent regulatory complications, Broadcom shifted its legal domicile from Singapore to Delaware on 2 November 2017 and changed its corporate name from Broadcom Limited to Broadcom Inc. Meanwhile, the original Broadcom Corporation continued as a wholly owned subsidiary.

In November 2017, Broadcom launched an unsolicited bid to acquire Qualcomm valued initially at $130 billion, later reduced to $117 billion. Qualcomm’s board declined the offer. The Trump administration intervened to block the acquisition over national security concerns linked to Broadcom’s Singapore base and alleged connections with China and Huawei. CFIUS highlighted risks related to Chinese dominance in 5G technology if Qualcomm were acquired. Critics contended that competitive factors played a larger role than security issues. Two days following the executive order, Broadcom withdrew its proposal. Analysts observed that this outcome aligned with U.S. trade policies as well as national security priorities.

Expansion into Software Sector

Following the unsuccessful Qualcomm takeover attempt, Broadcom reoriented its strategy from primarily semiconductor manufacturing toward infrastructure software to fuel growth. On 11 July 2018, Broadcom agreed to purchase CA Technologies for $18.9 billion. As a prominent provider of mainframe and cloud computing software solutions, CA Technologies broadened Broadcom’s product and service offerings. The acquisition was completed on 5 November 2018.

Broadcom further expanded its presence in enterprise software by announcing on 9 August 2019 the acquisition of Symantec Corporation's enterprise security division for $10.7 billion, excluding Symantec’s consumer business (now NortonLifeLock). This transaction reinforced Broadcom’s footprint in corporate infrastructure software and concluded on 4 November 2019, including rights to the Symantec brand.

These strategic acquisitions signify Broadcom’s transition from a hardware-centric company toward an integrated technology provider, enhancing its influence within software and cybersecurity markets.

In recognition of its robust financial results and market impact, Broadcom ranked as the fifth best-performing stock of the 2010s decade with a total return of 1,956%.

Investigations into anti-competitive conduct

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated an inquiry in January 2018 targeting Broadcom for alleged anti-competitive behavior during negotiations with customers. By 2021, Broadcom reached a settlement concerning accusations that it exploited monopoly power through restrictive contractual terms and threats directed at clients considered "disloyal."

In October 2019, the European Commission mandated Broadcom to discontinue comparable anti-competitive practices. The corporation consented to terminate exclusivity arrangements and to abstain from entering into such agreements for a period of seven years. Margrethe Vestager, the European Competition Commissioner, cautioned that these conditions had the potential to severely damage market competition. The practices were criticized for suppressing innovation and disrupting the international supply chain.

Litigation involving patents

Broadcom initiated patent infringement lawsuits against smart television manufacturers in 2017 but was unsuccessful at the U.S. International Trade Commission.

In 2020, the company filed legal action against Netflix over alleged multiple patent violations. Observers suggested this move aimed to defend declining revenues from traditional pay-TV services amid the rise of streaming platforms. According to the Leichtman Research Group, leading U.S. pay TV providers experienced a loss of nearly five million subscribers in 2019, adversely affecting box-related income estimated at close to $20 billion annually.

Developments in the 2020s

On January 7, 2020, Accenture PLC acquired Symantec’s cybersecurity services division comprising approximately 300 employees from Broadcom. The following month, Broadcom launched the BCM4389, recognized as the world’s first WiFi 6E client device. Early in 2020, Raspberry Pi integrated Broadcom’s BCM2711 processor into its new single-board computers.

In May 2022, Broadcom declared its intention to acquire VMware, a virtualization and cloud software provider, for $61 billion through a combination of cash and stock, also assuming $8 billion of VMware’s debt. This transaction encountered regulatory challenges from both the UK's Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission, resulting in multiple postponements of its completion date. By May 2023, deadlines had been extended first to August and subsequently to November 2023.

On November 21, 2023, Broadcom announced plans to complete the $69 billion acquisition of VMware, marking one of the largest deals within the technology industry. China granted conditional approval requiring VMware’s server software to remain compatible with domestic hardware and ensuring no restrictions on customers utilizing Broadcom products. The acquisition was finalized on November 22, 2023. Subsequent to closing, CEO Hock Tan revealed intentions to relocate Broadcom’s corporate headquarters from San Jose to VMware’s campus in Palo Alto.

In February 2024, Broadcom divested VMware’s end-user computing division to KKR for $4 billion.

Financial performance

For fiscal year 2023, Broadcom reported net earnings of $14.1 billion on revenues totaling $35.8 billion, representing a growth of 7.9% compared to the prior year.

Year	Revenue (US$ million)	Net income (US$ million)	Total assets (US$ million)	Employees
2009	1,484	(44)	1,970	3,200
2010	2,093	415	2,157	3,500
2011	2,336	552	2,446	3,500
2012	2,364	563	2,862	3,600
2013	2,520	552	3,415	4,800
2014	4,269	263	10,491	8,400
2015	6,824	1,364	10,515	8,200
2016	13,240	(1,739)	49,966	15,700
2017	17,636	1,692	54,418	14,000
2018	20,848	1,692	50,124	15,000
2019	22,597	2,695	67,493	19,000
2020	23,888	2,663	75,933	21,000
2021	27,450	6,437	75,570	20,000
2022	33,203	11,223	73,249	20,000
2023	35,819	14,082	72,861	20,000

Shareholder Structure

As of early 2024, Broadcom's top ten shareholders were predominantly institutional investors. Leading this group was The Vanguard Group holding a 10.03% stake, followed by BlackRock with 7.63%. Other significant investors included Capital World Investors at 4.53%, Capital International Investors with 4.04%, and State Street Corporation owning 3.95%. Additional notable stakeholders comprised Geode Capital Management (2.12%), company insiders (2.04%), Capital Research Global Investors (1.98%), Fidelity Investments (1.94%), and Morgan Stanley at 1.52%.

Product Offerings

Broadcom's extensive range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions caters to sectors such as data centers, networking, broadband, wireless communications, storage, and industrial automation. Its technologies underpin critical applications including telecommunications equipment, data center networking, smartphones, base stations, servers, factory automation systems, power generation, and software development platforms.

The company’s core competencies encompass networking hardware, optical modules, network interface controllers (NICs), and data storage technologies. Broadcom’s NICs are integrated into devices from prominent manufacturers like Dell, Apple, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Raspberry Pi, significantly enhancing device connectivity and operational efficiency.

Security Weaknesses in SoC WiFi Stack

In April 2017, Google's Project Zero disclosed severe security vulnerabilities within Broadcom’s System on a Chip (SoC) WiFi stack that lacked crucial exploit mitigation features. This flaw enabled remote attackers to seize control of devices via Wi-Fi without requiring user engagement. The vulnerability affected smartphones from major brands including Apple, Samsung, and Google, underscoring significant security concerns related to Broadcom’s wireless components on a global scale.

Jericho2 Switch Chip

Jericho2 is a programmable Ethernet switch chip designed to deliver substantial switching capacity per device, thereby boosting network throughput for data centers and cloud service providers.

Tomahawk 3 Series

The Tomahawk 3 family supports high-density, standards-compliant switching at 400GbE, 200GbE, and 100GbE speeds tailored for hyperscale cloud infrastructures. Broadcom provides two configurations: one variant offers bandwidth with 256 integrated SerDes supporting up to 32 ports at , while the other delivers bandwidth through 160 SerDes enabling versatile port arrangements. Subsequent iterations include Tomahawk 4 operating at , and Tomahawk 5 scaling up to , affirming Broadcom’s dominance in high-performance networking semiconductors.

Software Solutions

Broadcom has strategically diversified into enterprise software alongside its hardware portfolio.

Symantec Enterprise Security

Following the acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise security division in 2019—subsequent to Symantec Corporation’s rebranding as NortonLifeLock—Broadcom expanded its cybersecurity product suite and strengthened its position in the security market under the Symantec brand.

BizOps Suite

Broadcom provides BizOps software designed to enhance business operations and facilitate digital transformation initiatives. Key products include:

• Clarity – for managing product portfolios
• Rally – supporting agile software development
• Blaze CT – enabling shift-left testing methodologies
• DX Operational Intelligence – delivering AIOps capabilities
• Agile Requirements Designer – optimizing model-based testing

These software solutions complement Broadcom’s hardware offerings by addressing enterprise IT infrastructure and operational challenges.