Broadcom Optimizes New Chip for $8B Mobile Backhaul Market

IRVINE, Calif., March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced its latest StrataXGS® high performance switch solution, designed specifically to manage the exponential growth in wireless data traffic and carrier transition to 4G mobile networks. Mobile backhaul expenditures are expected to reach $8 billion by 2014(5).

With the striking rise in the number of smartphone and tablet users, existing backhaul networks are struggling to support the increasing requirements of high-bandwidth mobile video and data services. Leading carriers around the world have embarked on an aggressive strategy to upgrade their mobile networks in order to manage the explosive growth in traffic.

Broadcom's latest high performance StrataXGS chip is capable of delivering 1000x more bandwidth(1), allowing carriers to easily upgrade legacy backhaul networks and transition to 4G.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• Smartphone penetration is expected to double during the next four years(2).
• Smartphones require 10x more bandwidth than a normal feature phone(4).
• Tablet PC sales are forecasted to reach 126 million units in 2015(3).
• Tablet PCs generate 100 times more traffic than a feature phone(4).
• Analyst firm Infonetics predicts mobile backhaul expenditures to reach $8B billion by 2014(5).
• Ethernet is expected to be the dominant carrier technology by 2014, approaching 100 percent usage in mobile network base stations(5).
• The Broadcom® StrataXGS BCM56440 switch series provides a seamless migration path to Ethernet class performance in the mobile backhaul, delivering 1000x more bandwidth.
• Devices are now sampling with production volume expected in calendar Q4 2011.

Martin Lund, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Network Switch, Broadcom Corporation

"The wireless market today is incredibly competitive, and carriers are under a great deal of pressure to deliver the best service in the industry. Our latest switch solution allows carriers to seamlessly migrate existing networks to 4G, with the capability of delivering much higher bandwidth and faster connectivity to the growing number of smartphone and tablet users – resulting in a much more satisfying end user experience."

Michael Howard, Principal Analyst, Carrier & Data Center Networks Analyst, Infonetics

"With the emergence of 4G, the last mile backhaul is critical because poor performance in the backhaul creates bottlenecks that limit growth and diminish quality of service.  We anticipate mobile operator's spending on the mobile backhaul to grow substantially over the next several years as they develop an efficient and effective last mile backhaul.  We are seeing the emergence of the Ethernet protocol as the most optimal solution to address the capacity and economic issues facing carriers today."

(1) Ethernet versus time-division multiplexing (TDM) based networks

(2) iSuppli, 2010

(3) Parks Associates 2011

(4) Mobile Access 2010

(5) Infonetics Mobile Backhaul Forecast, 4Q10

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About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a prominent technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications.  Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment.  We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and embedded software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices.  These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything®.

Broadcom, one of the world's largest fabless communications semiconductor companies, with 2010 revenue of $6.82 billion, holds more than 4,800 U.S. and 2,000 foreign patents, and has more than 7,800 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.

A FORTUNE 500® company, Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at www.broadcom.com.

Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the demand for mobile backhaul network upgrades, our position in that space and the timing of volume production for StrataXGS solutions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with its StrataXGS BCM56440 solution include, but are not limited to:

• The rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products in the mobile backhaul space;
• Delays in the adoption and acceptance of Ethernet in the mobile backhaul space;
• The timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; and
• Competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products.

Additional factors that may cause Broadcom's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the list that can be found at http://www.broadcom.com/press/additional_risk_factors/Q12011.php.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.

Broadcom®, the pulse logo, Connecting everything®, and the Connecting everything logo and StrataXGS® are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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