Broadcom Intros PHY Chip

LAS VEGAS -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today strengthened its leadership position in the networking silicon market by introducing the industry's lowest power and smallest sized 8-port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) physical layer (PHY) transceiver chip. This first of its kind octal GbE PHY device is manufactured in a 90-nanometer (nm) process technology, dissipating less than 500 milliWatts of power per port while reducing printed circuit board (PCB) space by up to 40 percent in high density metro and enterprise switch designs. The new 90-nm octal PHY features a high level of peripheral component integration that enables significant bill-of-materials (BOM) cost savings for low-end and high-end switches, servers and data center applications.

As today's networking systems require more density, designers have increasingly turned to PHY transceiver chips that are capable of offering optimized power dissipation, package size and BOM cost. The use of a smaller process geometry provides these benefits as well as better performance. While other vendors are currently using the 0.13 micron process technology for their PHY transceiver products, Broadcom has distanced itself from the competition by being the first company in the industry to move to a more advanced 90-nm process technology for a higher level of integration. This, in turn, results in further reductions in power, package size and overall system cost for higher density enterprise and metro networking designs.

According to a recent report from industry analyst firm The Linley Group entitled "Networking Silicon Market Share 2005," Broadcom was last year's worldwide revenue leader in GbE copper PHYs, generating more than twice the revenue of its nearest competitor and capturing a 62 percent share of the market. Today's introduction of the Broadcom(R) BCM54980 octal GbE PHY transceiver chip allows Broadcom to continue its industry leadership role.

"With the introduction of the company's new BCM54980 octal PHY product, Broadcom is well positioned for sustained growth in the Gigabit Ethernet copper PHY market," said Bob Wheeler, Senior Analyst at The Linley Group. "In fact, our market share study shows that Broadcom grew its GbE PHY share faster than any of its competitors in 2005."

Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM)