‘Our Consolidated R&D expense was $1.8 bn in 2010’
There are several players in the semiconductor industry, how do you stay competent?
We are a dominant player in the industry; our diverse products and constant innovations in the product range is our competitive edge. Broadcom is a pioneer in mixed-signal design and single-chip integration. Besides this, we have the broadest product portfolios of wired and wireless connectivity solutions. And we are the market leader in set-top box, bluetooth, switching, blu-ray, radio combos, wireless LAN, and broadband modems. Broadcom offers solutions in all these segments, from home to enterprise to infrastructure to on-thego products.
Our product quality and capability, greater level of integration, engineering execution, standards compliance, relatively lower cost, intellectual property, and customer interface and support help us to be competitive.
What is your client base?
We have strategic relationships with the multi-service operators who provide wired and wireless communication services to the consumers and businesses. Our products are being incorporated by Alcatel, Apple, Cisco, Dell, Echostar, HP, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Netgear, Nokia, Samsung, Pace, and Nintendo. In 2010, sales to Apple and Samsung represented 11.1% and 10% of our net revenue, respectively. For a semiconductor company like us it is hard to keep track of our presence globally; though we have both direct and indirect supply chain.
We are very bullish on mobile space and the end-market in electronics, telecommunications, and electronics segment in India.
What are the changing dynamics of the semiconductor industry?
Innovation, integration, and seamless connectivity is the order of the day in the technology world. There is a continuous pressure to innovate. Rapidly evolving technology is driving innovations and new use cases. Different technologies are co- existing today, hence chip industry ought to ensure greater level of integration. There should not be interference when 2 or more technologies are put to use simultaneously. Attach rates are increasing, they need to coexist with advantages and opportunities. The industry needs better connected network—chips contribute immensely for the instantaneous movement of data.
How is Broadcom India strategic to your parent organization?
Broadcom’s strength is in its large and diverse R&D centers across the globe. India center is contributing tremendously from technical specifications to early stage of RTL, high-level design, and verification. It is also very active in software development, delivery, and system engineering.
Nearly 95% of Broadcom operates in R&D. Our total research and development expense was $1.8 bn in 2010 which has increased from $1.5 bn in 2009.
malinin@cybermedia.co.in