Broadcom
Broadcom Inc. is a Delaware corporation and global technology company that designs, develops, and supplies a broad range of semiconductor devices and infrastructure software solutions.[1] Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, it operates a primarily fabless manufacturing model, outsourcing production to third-party foundries while focusing on integrated circuits for connectivity, processing, and software for enterprise environments.[2][3] The company traces its current form to 2016, when Avago Technologies Limited acquired Broadcom Corporation for $77 billion and adopted the Broadcom name, integrating semiconductor expertise in broadband, networking, and wireless technologies with subsequent expansions into enterprise software via acquisitions like CA Technologies and Symantec's enterprise security business.[4] Broadcom serves hyperscale data centers, cloud providers, telecom operators, and industrial clients, with key product lines including Ethernet switching ASICs, custom AI accelerators, broadband processors, wireless connectivity chips, and mainframe software for automation and cybersecurity.[2][5] Its infrastructure software portfolio supports mainframes and hybrid cloud environments, emphasizing resiliency and open-tool integration.[6] Under CEO Hock Tan, Broadcom has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy and operational efficiency, driving revenue growth amid demand for AI and data center infrastructure; fiscal 2025 third-quarter revenue reached $15.95 billion, up 22% year-over-year, with approximately 21,000 employees supporting outsourced production and R&D.[7][8] The firm has faced regulatory challenges, including blocked bids like the 2018 Qualcomm takeover due to national security concerns, but continues as a pivotal supplier of custom silicon for major tech platforms, contributing to its market cap exceeding $1 trillion by late 2024.[9]History
Origins in Hewlett-Packard and formation of Avago Technologies
Hewlett-Packard's semiconductor efforts originated in 1961 with the establishment of a division tasked with developing integrated circuits and components to support the company's test and measurement instruments.[10] This unit, initially focused on silicon-based technologies including the first monolithic integrated circuit for microwave applications, evolved into a key provider of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors.[11] Over the subsequent decades, the division expanded its portfolio to include optoelectronic and RF components, contributing to HP's broader electronics ecosystem.[12] In 1999, Hewlett-Packard restructured by spinning off its electronics, life sciences, and chemical analysis divisions into the newly formed Agilent Technologies, which inherited the semiconductor operations.[13] Agilent continued to develop and market these technologies, emphasizing compound semiconductors like gallium arsenide for high-frequency applications in wireless and fiber-optic systems.[14] However, by the mid-2000s, Agilent sought to divest non-core assets to focus on its test and measurement strengths. On December 1, 2005, Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group was acquired by a consortium led by private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Silver Lake Partners for $2.6 billion, resulting in the formation of Avago Technologies as an independent entity.[15] This transaction positioned Avago as the world's largest privately held semiconductor company at the time, with operations spanning analog, mixed-signal, and optical components primarily serving enterprise, data center, and wireless markets.[14] Headquartered in San Jose, California, Avago retained key talent and intellectual property from its HP and Agilent heritage, enabling rapid growth through focused R&D and customer-centric innovation.[13]Acquisition of Broadcom Corporation and establishment of Broadcom Limited
On May 28, 2015, Avago Technologies Limited, a Singapore-domiciled semiconductor company, announced its agreement to acquire Broadcom Corporation, a U.S.-based designer of analog and digital semiconductor devices, in a transaction valued at $37 billion.[16] The deal represented the largest merger in the semiconductor industry at the time and was structured as a cash-and-stock transaction, with Avago providing $17 billion in cash and issuing approximately 140 million of its shares, equivalent to about $20 billion based on the prevailing stock price.[17] Under the terms, Broadcom shareholders were to receive $17 per share in cash or 0.4444 Avago shares per Broadcom share, resulting in Broadcom equity holders owning roughly 32% of the combined entity on a fully diluted basis.[18] The acquisition was pursued as part of Avago's aggressive expansion strategy under CEO Hock Tan, aiming to combine Avago's expertise in radio-frequency components and optoelectronics with Broadcom's strengths in wired networking, broadband, and wireless connectivity chips, thereby creating a diversified portfolio serving data centers, networking, and consumer electronics markets.[19] The transaction required approvals from U.S. antitrust regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission, which cleared it without conditions after review, citing minimal competitive overlap in the companies' product lines.[16] Financing included cash reserves, debt issuance, and equity, with the combined company projected to generate annual revenues exceeding $15 billion based on fiscal 2014 figures.[20] The merger closed on February 1, 2016, following shareholder approvals and regulatory clearances, with Avago formally acquiring Broadcom and establishing Broadcom Limited as the new parent holding company, retaining Singapore as its domicile to leverage the jurisdiction's favorable corporate and tax framework for multinational semiconductor operations.[21] [22] Broadcom Limited adopted the Broadcom name—despite Avago being the legal acquirer—due to the acquired company's established brand recognition in connectivity semiconductors, while integrating operations under Tan's leadership to pursue cost synergies estimated at $1.5 billion over three years through workforce reductions and facility consolidations.[12] The entity traded under Avago's NASDAQ ticker (AVGO) post-merger, marking the formation of a global semiconductor leader with a focus on high-margin analog, mixed-signal, and connectivity solutions.[23]Re-domiciliation to the United States and renaming to Broadcom Inc.
On November 2, 2017, Broadcom Limited announced its intention to redomicile its corporate group from Singapore to the United States by changing the parent company from a Singapore entity to a Delaware corporation.[24] This move was motivated in part by the scheduled expiration of certain Singapore tax benefits in 2021, earlier than previously anticipated, alongside a strategic alignment with the company's substantial U.S. operations and potential U.S. tax reforms.[25] Broadcom stated that the redomiciliation would proceed regardless of whether U.S. corporate tax reform occurred.[26] Shareholders approved the redomiciliation overwhelmingly at a special meeting on March 23, 2018, with the transaction subsequently confirmed by the High Court of the Republic of Singapore.[27] The process culminated effective as of the close of trading on April 4, 2018, when all issued ordinary shares of Broadcom Limited were exchanged on a one-for-one basis for shares of the newly formed U.S. parent company, Broadcom Inc.[28] [29] This restructuring renamed the entity Broadcom Inc. and established it as a U.S.-domiciled corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, while maintaining operational continuity.[28] The redomiciliation occurred amid Broadcom's pursuit of a $117 billion acquisition of Qualcomm, which faced U.S. national security scrutiny partly due to Broadcom's prior Singapore domicile; the move to the U.S. was seen as an effort to mitigate such regulatory hurdles, though the deal was ultimately blocked by presidential order in March 2018.[30] Post-redomiciliation, Broadcom Inc. continued to leverage its U.S. base for enhanced access to capital markets and alignment with American regulatory frameworks, without immediate U.S. tax liabilities on the exchange for shareholders under applicable rules.[31]Expansion into software via strategic acquisitions
Broadcom's expansion into software began under CEO Hock Tan as a deliberate strategy to diversify beyond semiconductors, targeting high-margin, subscription-based revenue streams to complement its hardware business. This shift emphasized acquiring established enterprise software firms with recurring income models, aiming to integrate them into Broadcom's infrastructure ecosystem for cross-selling opportunities with chip customers. By 2018, software had become a pillar of Broadcom's growth, with acquisitions selected for their stable cash flows and synergy potential rather than transformative scale alone.[32] The first major software acquisition was CA Technologies, announced on July 11, 2018, for $18.9 billion in cash, or $44.50 per share. CA specialized in mainframe management, DevOps tools, and enterprise IT analytics, providing Broadcom with immediate access to a customer base of large corporations reliant on legacy systems. The deal closed on November 5, 2018, after regulatory approvals, and CA operated as a wholly owned subsidiary, contributing to Broadcom's software revenue which grew to represent over 20% of total sales by fiscal 2019. This purchase aligned with Hock Tan's playbook of cost optimization post-acquisition, including workforce reductions to enhance profitability.[32][33] Building on this, Broadcom acquired Symantec's enterprise security business on August 8, 2019, for $10.7 billion in cash, focusing on endpoint protection, threat intelligence, and cloud security solutions. The transaction, which excluded Symantec's consumer segment, closed on November 4, 2019, and rebranded the unit as Symantec Enterprise within Broadcom, led by Art Gilliland as SVP and general manager. This added cybersecurity capabilities serving hyperscalers and enterprises, with integrated offerings like endpoint detection and response, bolstering Broadcom's position in secure infrastructure software. Post-acquisition, Broadcom reported improved profitability in the segment through operational efficiencies.[34][35] The capstone was the acquisition of VMware, announced on May 26, 2022, initially valued at $61 billion in cash and stock, later adjusted to $69 billion including debt. VMware provided virtualization, cloud management, and multi-cloud platforms like vSphere and Tanzu, expanding Broadcom's portfolio into hybrid cloud infrastructure. Facing regulatory scrutiny, including from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, the deal closed on November 22, 2023, after Broadcom restructured it as a cash-and-stock transaction and divested VMware's end-user computing unit. VMware's integration aimed to add $8.5 billion in annual EBITDA within three years, leveraging Broadcom's semiconductor expertise for optimized software-hardware stacks, though it prompted customer concerns over pricing and support changes.[36][37]Developments in the 2020s: Focus on AI infrastructure and hyperscale networking
In the early 2020s, Broadcom intensified its focus on AI infrastructure by developing custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), known as XPUs, in collaboration with hyperscale customers to optimize AI training and inference workloads. These custom designs enable hyperscalers to achieve higher efficiency and lower costs compared to off-the-shelf GPUs, with Broadcom co-designing silicon tailored to specific accelerator architectures.[38][39] By mid-decade, this segment contributed significantly to Broadcom's growth, with AI-related semiconductor revenue exceeding 50% of total semiconductor sales and expanding at over 20% annually, driven by demand from major cloud providers.[40] Broadcom's custom ASIC business accelerated in 2025, securing multi-year partnerships for next-generation AI clusters, including a strategic collaboration with OpenAI announced on October 13, 2025, to deploy accelerators and networking systems.[41] AI revenue surged 63% year-over-year to $5.2 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, surpassing expectations, with projections for further acceleration to $6.2 billion in the fourth quarter, fueled by new hyperscale customer wins and expanding inference demand.[42][43] Analysts anticipate the custom AI silicon market, where Broadcom holds a leading position, to reach $60–$90 billion by 2027 as hyperscalers shift toward specialized hardware to mitigate dependency on general-purpose processors.[44] Complementing custom compute, Broadcom advanced hyperscale networking with Ethernet-based solutions optimized for lossless, low-latency AI fabrics, supporting scale-up GPU clusters and distributed computing across data centers. The Jericho3-AI switch, launched in April 2023, introduced deep buffering and RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) capabilities for AI-scale interconnects, enabling hyperscalers to handle massive traffic in training environments.[45] In June 2025, Broadcom shipped the Tomahawk 6 series, the industry's first 102.4 terabits per second (Tbps) switch, featuring Cognitive Routing 2.0 for dynamic congestion management and support for hyperscale clusters scaling to one million accelerators.[46][47] Further innovations included the Tomahawk Ultra for ultra-low latency in-rack interconnects and the Jericho4 Ethernet fabric router, shipped in August 2025, delivering 51.2 Tbps capacity with 3.2 Tbps HyperPorts to extend AI fabrics beyond single data centers while maintaining congestion-free RoCE transport and MACsec encryption.[48][49] In October 2025, Broadcom introduced Thor Ultra, the first 800G AI Ethernet network interface controller (NIC), compliant with Ultra Ethernet Consortium standards, to enhance end-to-end performance in AI workloads.[50] These developments, showcased at the Open Compute Project Global Summit in October 2025, position Broadcom's portfolio for hyperscalers' projected doubling of accelerator cluster sizes to improve AI model efficiency.[51][52]Corporate affairs
Leadership and executive strategy
Hock E. Tan has served as president and chief executive officer of Broadcom Inc. since March 2006, leading the company through its evolution from Avago Technologies to a diversified semiconductor and infrastructure software provider.[53] Under Tan's direction, Broadcom has pursued an acquisition-heavy growth model, including the $77 billion purchase of VMware in November 2023, which expanded its software offerings in virtualization and cloud infrastructure while integrating them with semiconductor capabilities for enterprise customers.[54] This approach emphasizes post-acquisition operational efficiencies, such as workforce reductions and product portfolio streamlining, to boost margins and free cash flow, enabling substantial shareholder returns through dividends and buybacks.[54] Key executives supporting Tan include Charlie Kawwas, Ph.D., president of the Semiconductor Solutions Group since 2021, overseeing chip design and manufacturing for networking, broadband, and wireless markets; and Mark Brazeal, executive vice president and chief corporate development officer, who manages mergers, investments, and legal strategy.[55] The board of directors, chaired by Henry Samueli since Broadcom's formation, includes independent members like Eddy Hartenstein as lead director, providing oversight on governance and strategic risks.[56] Broadcom's executive strategy has pivoted toward artificial intelligence infrastructure since 2023, prioritizing custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for hyperscale data centers operated by clients such as Google and Meta, alongside Ethernet-based networking silicon for AI training clusters.[57] Tan has tied executive incentives, including his own compensation, to AI revenue milestones, targeting scaled payouts based on annual figures from $60 billion to $120 billion, reflecting confidence in sustained demand for AI accelerators and interconnect solutions.[58] In December 2024, Tan affirmed no interest in acquiring Intel, opting instead for organic AI development to leverage Broadcom's strengths in high-margin custom silicon over commoditized foundry production.[59] This focus has driven semiconductor revenue growth, with AI-related products comprising a significant portion of fiscal 2025 projections, amid Tan's direct oversight of the software group to align it with hardware synergies.[60]Ownership and shareholder composition
Broadcom Inc. is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol AVGO, with approximately 4.72 billion shares outstanding as of mid-2025.[61] Institutional investors own the majority of the company's shares, holding about 77% of outstanding equity, reflecting strong interest from large asset managers in Broadcom's semiconductor and software businesses.[61] Insider ownership stands at roughly 1.93%, primarily concentrated among executives and directors, while the public float accounts for the remaining shares held by retail and other non-institutional investors.[62] The largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, with a stake of approximately 10.24% as of the most recent filings, followed by BlackRock Inc. at 5.94% and State Street Corporation at a similar scale.[63] Other significant institutional holders include Geode Capital Management (holding over 108 million shares), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (94 million shares), and Capital Research Global Investors (91 million shares), based on quarterly 13F disclosures ending June 30, 2025.[64] These passive and active investors have maintained or increased positions amid Broadcom's growth in AI-related infrastructure, though recent insider activity has included sales totaling over $124 million in late 2025, with no corresponding gifts or purchases offsetting the volume.[64]| Major Shareholder | Approximate Shares Held | Ownership Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Group | 483 million | 10.24% |
| BlackRock Inc. | 281 million | 5.94% |
| State Street Corp | ~200 million (est.) | ~4.2% |
Products and technologies
Core semiconductor offerings
Broadcom's core semiconductor portfolio primarily consists of integrated circuits and components designed for high-performance connectivity and data processing in enterprise, data center, and consumer applications. These offerings span networking, wireless communications, broadband access, and storage connectivity, with products fabricated using advanced nodes to support high bandwidth and low latency requirements.[67] The company operates across approximately 17 product lines in these domains, emphasizing custom ASICs and standard semiconductors tailored for infrastructure markets.[68] In networking semiconductors, Broadcom provides Ethernet connectivity solutions including switches, routers, network interface cards (NICs), and physical layer (PHY) devices optimized for cloud-scale data centers and enterprise networks. Fibre Channel products, such as directors and switches, enable storage area networks (SANs) with integrated analytics and security features for autonomous operation. These chips support terabit-scale throughput, critical for hyperscale environments.[69][67] Wireless offerings include film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) devices for filters and duplexers used in mobile handsets and Wi-Fi access points, alongside system-on-chips (SoCs) for wireless LAN and Bluetooth connectivity. These components prioritize low power consumption and high integration for devices like smartphones and IoT endpoints, with recent advancements extending to Wi-Fi 8 ecosystems featuring hardware-accelerated telemetry for AI-optimized networks as of October 2025.[70][71] For broadband, Broadcom supplies customer premises equipment (CPE) gateways, infrastructure chips, and set-top box solutions supporting DSL, passive optical networks (PON), and cable modems. These enable high-speed residential and enterprise access, with integrated modems handling DOCSIS standards for cable broadband deployment.[72] Storage semiconductors feature adapters, controllers, and connectivity ICs for server environments, including SAS, SATA, and Fibre Channel interfaces for enterprise hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). These products emphasize reliability and performance in mission-critical storage arrays, supporting high IOPS for data-intensive workloads.[73]Networking silicon innovations
Broadcom's networking silicon portfolio centers on application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) designed for Ethernet switching, routing, and fabric architectures, powering a significant portion of global data center, service provider, and enterprise networks. These merchant silicon solutions, adopted by vendors including Cisco, Arista, and Juniper, emphasize scalability, low latency, and programmability to meet demands from cloud hyperscalers and AI workloads. Innovations include progressive increases in port density and bandwidth, from 100G to 800G Ethernet, alongside features like deep packet buffering and integrated security such as MACsec and IPSec.[74][75] The Tomahawk series represents Broadcom's flagship for hyperscale data center switching, prioritizing high throughput and radix for spine-leaf topologies. Introduced in iterations scaling from 3.2 Tbps to the Tomahawk 5's 51.2 Tbps in 2022, which supports up to 128x400G or 64x800G ports, the family evolved to Tomahawk Ultra for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) with 250ns latency and 77 billion packets per second forwarding.[46][76] In June 2025, Broadcom shipped Tomahawk 6, the industry's first 102.4 Tbps switch ASIC, doubling prior capacities to enable larger AI clusters with adaptable port speeds up to 1.6 Tbps per lane in future configurations.[46][77] This progression addresses Ethernet's role in displacing proprietary fabrics for AI scale-out, offering cost-effective alternatives to InfiniBand through lossless queuing and dynamic load balancing.[78] Complementing Tomahawk, the Jericho family focuses on routing and aggregation for service providers and AI fabrics, incorporating StrataDNX architecture for programmable pipelines and deep on-chip buffering to handle microbursts and congestion—up to 8GB in Jericho 2 models. Jericho3, supporting 100-800G ports with built-in encryption, scaled to hyperscale fabrics, while Jericho4, launched in August 2025, extends this with hybrid switch-router capabilities for distributed AI environments, emphasizing secure, lossless interconnects across multi-building clusters via HyperPort technology.[74][45][79] For enterprise and top-of-rack applications, the Trident series provides cost-optimized switching with integrated management features. The Trident 5-X12, released in November 2023, doubled bandwidth to 12.8 Tbps over predecessors while reducing power by 25% and introducing on-chip neural networks for advanced telemetry, security analytics, and traffic engineering—enabling real-time anomaly detection without external processors.[80] Broadcom's broader AI networking push includes the Ramon chipset family for fabric extensions and the Thor Ultra ASIC, unveiled in October 2025, which interconnects hundreds of thousands of GPUs in scale-out clusters, supporting Ethernet-based alternatives to Nvidia's offerings with enhanced reliability for multi-tenant AI training.[81][82] These developments incorporate co-packaged optics (CPO) innovations, such as third-generation 200G/lane modules announced in May 2025, to minimize power loss and latency in high-radix networks.[83]Wireless and broadband solutions
Broadcom provides a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor solutions for wireless connectivity, encompassing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RF components for mobile devices, infrastructure, and broadband access points. These offerings support applications in smartphones, tablets, routers, and enterprise networks, with system-on-chip (SoC) designs integrating multiple connectivity standards to enable high-performance wireless LAN (WLAN) infrastructure.[84][85] The company has been a pioneer in Wi-Fi technology since the early 2000s, shipping its first single-chip 802.11 solution in the early 2000s to make Wi-Fi viable for portable devices like PDAs and cell phones.[86] In Wi-Fi advancements, Broadcom has driven successive generations of chips, including the industry's first 3x3 Wi-Fi 6 chip for mass-market WLAN access points and set-top boxes introduced around 2019. By March 2022, the company had shipped one billion Wi-Fi 6 and 6E chips, underscoring its market leadership in enabling multi-gigabit speeds and improved efficiency for dense environments.[21][87] Broadband Wi-Fi access point solutions from Broadcom maximize Wi-Fi 6, 6E, and 7 connectivity for enterprise, service provider, and residential deployments, incorporating features like multi-user MIMO and OFDMA to handle high device densities. On October 14, 2025, Broadcom announced the industry's first Wi-Fi 8 silicon ecosystem, designed to meet AI-era demands for enhanced performance, reliability, and efficiency in wireless networks.[88][89] For broadband solutions, Broadcom delivers silicon platforms for wired technologies including cable (DOCSIS), DSL, and PON, targeting customer premises equipment (CPE) like gateways, modems, and set-top boxes, as well as infrastructure such as cable modem termination systems (CMTS). In cable broadband, the BCM3390 DOCSIS 3.1 SoC supports multi-gigabit speeds for cable modems and gateways, integrating downstream and upstream channels for high-throughput home networking.[72][90] The company provides end-to-end DOCSIS solutions, from head-end CCAP PHY chips like the BCM31440 to CPE modems, maintaining dominance in deployments by major operators. On September 25, 2024, Broadcom partnered with Charter Communications and Comcast to develop unified DOCSIS chipsets capable of 25 Gbps speeds, embedding AI/ML for network optimization.[91][92] Earlier, in October 2023, Comcast and Broadcom initiated work on an AI-powered DOCSIS 4.0 chipset to enable symmetrical multi-gigabit services with advanced network intelligence.[93] These developments position Broadcom's broadband chips to support evolving hybrid fiber-coaxial networks amid rising demand for ultra-high-speed internet.Acquired software portfolio
Broadcom's software portfolio, developed through targeted acquisitions since 2018, encompasses enterprise infrastructure management, cybersecurity, virtualization, and DevOps tools, enabling integrated solutions for hybrid cloud and data center operations. These assets form the core of Broadcom's Software segment, which reported $5.5 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2023, representing about 20% of total company revenue prior to further integration.[37] The portfolio emphasizes high-margin, subscription-based recurring revenue models, with a focus on mainframe, security, and multi-cloud technologies that address enterprise scalability and compliance needs.[94] A pivotal acquisition was CA Technologies in July 2018 for $18.9 billion in cash, which brought mainframe software (e.g., CA 1 Tape Management, CA Workload Automation), API management platforms, and DevOps tools like Rally and Clarity PPM.[32] These assets strengthened Broadcom's capabilities in IT operations management and service virtualization, serving industries reliant on legacy systems such as finance and government. CA's portfolio included over 200 products, with emphasis on automation for mainframe environments handling mission-critical workloads.[33] In August 2019, Broadcom acquired Symantec's enterprise security business for $10.7 billion in cash, adding endpoint protection, secure access service edge (SASE), and data loss prevention solutions like Symantec Endpoint Security and Blue Coat proxy technologies.[34] This bolstered the portfolio's cybersecurity offerings, integrating threat intelligence and network security for enterprise perimeters, with annual recurring revenue exceeding $2.5 billion at the time of acquisition. The deal excluded Symantec's consumer antivirus business, focusing on B2B enterprise tools compatible with Broadcom's networking hardware.[34] The largest addition came with VMware's acquisition, completed on November 22, 2023, for approximately $61 billion in cash and stock (initially valued at $69 billion).[37] VMware contributed virtualization platforms (e.g., vSphere, vSAN), Kubernetes orchestration (Tanzu), and multi-cloud management tools (Aria), enabling sovereign cloud and edge computing solutions.[94] This expanded the portfolio to include hybrid cloud infrastructure, with VMware's subscription model projected to drive over $10 billion in annual revenue, synergizing with Broadcom's silicon for optimized performance in AI and hyperscale environments.[37] Smaller software acquisitions, such as ConnectALL in June 2023, enhanced value stream management for DevOps integration within the CA-derived tools.[95] Overall, the portfolio prioritizes cross-selling opportunities between software and semiconductors, though integration challenges have included partner program restructurings and pricing adjustments post-VMware.[96]AI and custom chip advancements
Broadcom has established itself as a leader in custom AI silicon through co-development partnerships with hyperscalers, producing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) tailored for machine learning training and inference. These custom chips, often referred to as XPUs, prioritize energy efficiency and workload optimization over the versatility of general-purpose GPUs. A cornerstone of this effort is Broadcom's long-standing collaboration with Google on Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), culminating in the seventh-generation Ironwood TPU as of 2025, with Broadcom's contributions expected to yield over $10 billion in revenue from this program alone in fiscal year 2025.[97] In September 2025, Broadcom secured a $10 billion order for custom AI chips from an undisclosed hyperscaler customer, highlighting the shift toward bespoke silicon for large-scale AI deployments. This momentum extended to a landmark October 13, 2025, announcement of a multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, under which OpenAI designs the accelerators and Broadcom manufactures them for deployment starting in the second half of 2026, targeting 10 gigawatts of capacity over four years. Similar custom XPU engagements with Meta Platforms and ByteDance have fueled AI revenue growth to $5.2 billion in Broadcom's fiscal third quarter of 2025, up 63% year-over-year, as hyperscalers seek to diversify beyond dominant GPU suppliers.[98][99][100][101] To support these compute advancements, Broadcom has advanced AI-specific networking chips that enable scalable, low-latency fabrics for distributed AI clusters. The Jericho3-AI, introduced in 2023, provides high-radix Ethernet switching with 144 SerDes lanes at 106 Gb/s PAM4 for machine learning interconnects. Building on this, the Jericho4 chip, shipped starting August 4, 2025, delivers 51.2 Tbps throughput with deep buffers to mitigate congestion in hyperscale AI networks, facilitating links between smaller data centers for broader AI system expansion. In October 2025, Broadcom unveiled the Thor Ultra Ethernet switch, complementing Jericho and Tomahawk families with sub-microsecond latencies tailored for AI workloads.[102][48][103][49][104]Financial performance
Revenue growth and segment breakdown
Broadcom Inc.'s revenue has exhibited accelerated growth in recent fiscal years, largely attributable to the $69 billion acquisition of VMware completed on November 22, 2023, which expanded its infrastructure software portfolio.[105] For fiscal year 2024 (ended November 3, 2024), total revenue reached $51.6 billion, a 44% increase from $35.8 billion in fiscal year 2023.[105] This marked a departure from pre-acquisition trends, where annual revenue growth averaged approximately 8-15% from fiscal 2020 ($23.9 billion) through fiscal 2023, driven primarily by semiconductor demand in networking and wireless sectors.[106] The company's operations are divided into two primary reporting segments: Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software. In fiscal year 2024, Semiconductor Solutions accounted for $30.1 billion (58% of total revenue), reflecting growth in custom AI accelerators and networking chips amid hyperscaler demand.[105] Infrastructure Software contributed $21.5 billion (42%), predominantly from VMware's virtualization and cloud management offerings, which were fully integrated post-acquisition and generated over 180% year-over-year growth in the segment.[105] Within Semiconductor Solutions, revenue is further categorized by end markets including networking connectivity (e.g., Ethernet switches and routers), server/storage connectivity, and broadband/wireless solutions. Networking and AI-related products have been key drivers, with AI revenue surging 150% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 to contribute significantly to the segment's 12% overall growth.[107] Infrastructure Software breaks down into private cloud (VMware core), mainframe software, and enterprise software, with private cloud dominating due to subscription transitions yielding higher recurring revenue.[108] Into fiscal year 2025, revenue momentum has persisted, with quarterly figures showing sustained double-digit growth: $14.9 billion in Q1 (up 25% year-over-year), $15.0 billion in Q2 (up 20%), and $16.0 billion in Q3 (up 22%), yielding trailing twelve-month revenue of approximately $59.9 billion as of August 2025.[109][110][111] Semiconductor revenue in Q3 grew 17-22% across periods, bolstered by AI custom silicon for clients like Google and Meta, while software stabilization post-VMware rationalization supports margin expansion.[112]| Fiscal Year | Total Revenue ($B) | Semiconductor Solutions ($B) | Infrastructure Software ($B) | YoY Total Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 35.8 | 35.8 (100%) | 0 | 8 |
| 2024 | 51.6 | 30.1 (58%) | 21.5 (42%) | 44 |