Broadcom seeks to sell RF wireless chip business, Apple may be a potential buyer

Bo Tong released the news that the company has hired Swind to find a potential buyer for the RF department.

It is understood that RF (radio frequency) is part of the wireless chip division and one of the original businesses of Broadcom’s predecessor Avago, which mainly produces thin-film cavity acoustic resonators (FBAR) used to filter signals, which is a common component in smartphones such as the iPhone. . In fiscal 2019, the division brought in $2.2 billion in revenue for Broadcom, estimating that the RF division could be valued at as much as $10 billion.

It is worth noting that in the latest quarterly financial report, Broadcom has re-divided the wireless business into a business other than the core semiconductor business, which means that the company has paid less attention to this part of the business. From the two internal and external environment, it is not very surprising that Boyong seeks to sell the RF sector this time.

In the external environment, although Broadcom’s FBAR has advantages in the field of RF wireless chips and is also used by Apple, but in recent years, this part of the business is under “threat” from companies such as Qorvo and Skyworks, such as Qorvo, which has developed a The new filter technology, which can replace the traditional FBAR, brings great challenges to Broadcom. At the same time, due to the impact of the general environment, orders between Broadcom and Huawei have also been affected, which is a considerable loss.

In the internal corporate environment, Bo Tong’s acquisition in the past two years is dominated by software companies. According to Broadcom Chief Financial Officer Thomas Krause, the company sees an opportunity for similar consolidation in infrastructure software areas such as hybrid cloud computing, and seems intent on making a move in the software direction.

For the successor of Broadcom’s RF division, some people in the industry speculate that Apple may be involved. Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin noted on Twitter that Apple is already working on its own RF technology, making it a “likely candidate” to acquire Broadcom’s business.

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