How did Broadcom become a major RF company?

The current Broadcom Inc. is the result of several major acquisitions. The original Broadcom Corporation (founded 1991) was a fabless semiconductor company focused on wired and wireless networking SoCs. In 2016, Avago Technologies (which had acquired the semiconductor division of Hewlett-Packard and later Agilent's semiconductor business, including FBAR filter technology) acquired Broadcom Corporation for 37 billion dollars and took the Broadcom name. This merger combined Avago's analog and RF expertise (filters, PAs, fiber optics) with Broadcom's digital networking strengths (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet). The 2019 acquisition of Symantec's enterprise security division and the 2023 acquisition of VMware further diversified the company beyond semiconductors.

What is FBAR filter technology?

FBAR (Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator) is a piezoelectric filter technology where a thin film of aluminum nitride (AlN) is sandwiched between metal electrodes and vibrates at its mechanical resonance frequency when excited by an RF signal. FBAR filters provide extremely steep rejection slopes (over 50 dB of adjacent-channel rejection in 5 MHz transition bandwidth), very low insertion loss (under 1.5 dB), and small footprint (1 to 2 mm squared per filter), making them essential for the 40-plus filter bands required in modern 5G smartphones. Broadcom holds dominant market share in FBAR filters, supplying Apple, Samsung, and other major OEMs.

Industry & Vendors

Broadcom

Q: What RF products does Broadcom make?

Broadcom's RF product portfolio spans several categories: FBAR (Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator) filters that provide the steep rejection needed for carrier aggregation in 4G/5G smartphones, RF front-end modules integrating PAs, LNAs, switches, and filters for cellular bands, Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 and Bluetooth combo SoCs (BCM4389, BCM4398) that integrate baseband, MAC, PHY, and radio in a single chip, high-speed fiber optic transceivers (100G/400G/800G) for data center interconnects, and Ethernet PHY devices for 1G to 400G wired networking. The FBAR filter technology, inherited from Avago Technologies, is a key competitive advantage that Broadcom supplies to major smartphone OEMs.

/brawd-kahm/ — Broadcom Inc. (AVGO)

A global semiconductor and infrastructure software company that designs and supplies FBAR filters, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo SoCs, RF front-end modules, fiber optic transceivers, and Ethernet PHY devices. Formed through Avago Technologies' 2016 acquisition of the original Broadcom Corporation, the combined company holds dominant positions in acoustic filter technology for 5G smartphones and high-speed data center connectivity silicon.

Category: Industry & Vendors

Ticker: NASDAQ: AVGO

Key Tech: FBAR Filters, Wi-Fi SoCs

Understanding Broadcom

Broadcom Inc. occupies a central position in the RF supply chain. Every modern 5G smartphone contains multiple Broadcom FBAR filters that enable carrier aggregation across 40+ frequency bands. The company's Wi-Fi combo SoCs (BCM4389, BCM4398) integrate Wi-Fi 6E/7 and Bluetooth 5.3 in a single chip that powers flagship devices from Apple, Samsung, and Google. On the infrastructure side, Broadcom's fiber optic transceivers and Ethernet switch ASICs form the backbone of hyperscale data centers, while its broadband access SoCs power cable modems and DSL gateways.

The company traces its RF heritage through Avago Technologies, which inherited Hewlett-Packard's semiconductor division (including LED, optocoupler, and III-V compound semiconductor expertise) and later Agilent's semiconductor business (which brought FBAR filter technology developed originally for military duplexers). This lineage gives Broadcom deep expertise in piezoelectric thin-film processing, GaAs/InP compound semiconductor fabrication, and high-volume MEMS-like manufacturing that competitors find difficult to replicate.

Revenue and Market Position

Key RF Product Lines:
FBAR Filters: dominant market share in smartphone acoustic filters
Wi-Fi SoCs: BCM43xx/4389/4398 series, Wi-Fi 6/6E/7
PA Modules: integrated FEM for cellular bands

Technology Heritage:
HP Semiconductor → Agilent Semi → Avago Technologies → Broadcom Inc.
Original Broadcom (networking SoCs) merged 2016

FBAR filters achieve > 50 dB adjacent-channel rejection in < 5 MHz transition BW, under 1.5 dB IL.

Broadcom RF Product Portfolio

Product Line	Technology	Market	Key Specs	Competitors
FBAR Filters	AlN piezoelectric	Smartphones	< 1.5 dB IL, > 50 dB rejection	Qualcomm (BAW), Murata (SAW)
Wi-Fi SoCs	CMOS + RF	Consumer, enterprise	Wi-Fi 7, 320 MHz, MLO	Qualcomm, MediaTek, Intel
RF FEM	GaAs PA + FBAR	Smartphones	Multi-band, CA support	Skyworks, Qorvo
Fiber Optic TX/RX	InP laser + SiGe TIA	Data centers	100G to 800G per lane	Coherent, Lumentum
Ethernet PHY	CMOS	Enterprise, carrier	1G to 400G	Marvell, Microchip

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What RF products does Broadcom make?

FBAR filters for 5G carrier aggregation, Wi-Fi 6E/7 + Bluetooth combo SoCs (BCM4389/4398), RF front-end modules integrating PAs, LNAs, switches, and filters for cellular, 100G/400G/800G fiber optic transceivers for data centers, and Ethernet PHY devices for 1G to 400G wired networking.

How did Broadcom become an RF company?

Avago Technologies (HP Semiconductor heritage, including FBAR tech) acquired original Broadcom Corporation in 2016 for $37B, combining Avago's analog/RF expertise with Broadcom's digital networking strengths. The merged company took the Broadcom name and AVGO ticker.

What is FBAR technology?

Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator: a thin AlN piezoelectric film between electrodes vibrates at RF resonance. Provides > 50 dB rejection in < 5 MHz transition BW with < 1.5 dB IL in 1 to 2 mm² footprint. Essential for the 40+ filter bands in modern 5G smartphones. Broadcom holds dominant market share.

Related Terms

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