Broadcom closes DTV, Blu-ray chip units

9/22/2011 2:38 PM EDT

That is a good decision.

9/22/2011 4:28 PM EDT

This is somehwat related to the other outsourcing thread of last week, concerning fabs in the UK.

Broadcom, IIRC, was the very first company to come out with a chip that could do both 8-VSB and n-QAM demod. Back in 2000 or so. Which was a cool idea, since cable systems had decided to stick with 64-QAM or 256-QAM, and not use 16-VSB. And Broadcom also improved the lousy perfromance of these ATSC receivers designs somehwat, with the early 2nd gen designs, which were still hardly good enough.

But then a market matures. We've now reached what, at least 6th gen designs, many offshore companies are building these, and as far as I have been able to determine, their reception performance is univerally excellent now. The TV industry itself is all offshore already, so they have no reason to seek their component parts from the US. If the quality of receiver components thay can buy from Asia is excellent, and the price is real cheap, why should they look here?

So, probably not a bad BUSINESS decision for Broadcom, since they probably didn't have a really unique product anymore?

9/22/2011 4:39 PM EDT

re: "ATI later became part of Broadcom", this is incorrect. Your earlier statement re: acquisition of AMD's DTV division was correct, but AMD bought ATI in 2006, and Broadcom's purchase was only AMD
s former ATI/DTV division, not ATI...

Broadcom's actions certainly seem to give some credibility to AMD/ATI having sold off this division...

9/22/2011 7:50 PM EDT

One small correction Junko -- Nxtwave Communications did not develop "the first" VSB demodulation chips. Way back at the peak of the ATSC modulation wars, Nxtwave & Motorola announced 2nd gen 8-VSB demodulator chips within days of each other. Second gen, not first gen.

The news of Broadcom's exit from this business is kind of sad. Although they are in so many different markets these days, the foundation on which they started the company was their expertise in modulation and demodulation, starting with their first QAM chips for the cable TV industry. It only seemed natural that they would become the experts in off-air DTV chips too, and indeed they did -- apparently there just wasn't much money to be made in that business.

I hope that the ex-ATI and ex-Nxtwave engineers that BRCM just laid off quickly land on their feet -- a lot of great talent there.

Meanwhile, what impact if any will Broadcom's DTV exit have on the nacent mobile DTV business? The ink is barely dry on the ATSC mobile DTV standard, and here we have the company whose name literally means broadband communications quitting the business.

9/22/2011 10:08 PM EDT

The only reason Broadcom purchased the ATI DTV group was to finally get into Sony TVs. Sony hates Broadcom (like everyone else)and played dumb when Broadcom was dancing with ATI. Right after the purchase went down the Broadcom E-Staff went to SONY to close the deal and Sony told them to go pound sand. Sony gave Broadcom the big F U.

SONY rules and made me a big fan of Sony product ever since.

Broadcom, you can't buy your way into a market made of loyalty and friendships.

Broadcom how does it feel to get bully-ed out of a market? hahaha

SUCK IT.............

9/22/2011 10:53 PM EDT

It is a tough market. I've seen business come and go, just like the memory business.

9/23/2011 3:29 AM EDT

It is a brutal market, it is exteremely hard for chip suppliers to make money if the setmakers themselves are unable to differentiate and are competing on price not on technology. Recent misses include 3D TV and the current wave of connectivity also fails to excite.

The shakeout started years ago with Genesis, Micronas and NXP getting out(or being acquired), Pixelworks is hanging on a string; Zoran getting out and now Broadcom. Who is next???

9/23/2011 12:57 PM EDT

Competing on price or technology is depending on which market segment the company is intended to enter. Price has always been the primary driver in mid and low end market. DTV and Blu-ray is quite a brutal market. The price of decent quality 50" DTV can be as low as $800. TV technology has been evolved so much. Named brands are struggling to differentiate themselves in the market.

9/23/2011 3:42 PM EDT

The way the US chip industry will go is the same as all the other industries - make your money upfront, because when the Chinese come into the game you won't be able to compete. Period. It doesn't matter the product, when you're playing against an opponent who has stacked the deck against you, you will lose.

9/26/2011 10:47 PM EDT

I joined ATI DTV department in shanghai as an engineer in early 2006, when ATI was still believed to be a leader in the market.
No sooner I saw the business was going nowhere.

The situation was just beyond my comprehension. The management was poor, without any vision. There was no effective cooperations between the sites in Asia and North America. Expenses were very high, people were traveling around the world and doing little work. I cann't imagine such a business can survive so long, had not it been changed hands twice. I can say a few managers in shanghai were the worst I worked with in my life, but they have been the most valued staff there.

I have been suffering a deep depression even after I left there in 2008.

9/26/2011 11:18 PM EDT

Ironically, the terrible manager I was working for at ATI Shanghai got a promotion this year as a senior manager at Broadcom. And it seemed he just secured a position as director at Marvell. So the business may go broken, the bad guy's propering continues.

9/28/2011 7:15 AM EDT

By the way, taiwan companies has little bureaucracy.