Internet Stock News Announces Investment Opinion: Broadcom: At the Core of Broadband.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 1999--

INTERNET STOCK NEWS: Sept. 20, 1999

"Broadcom: At the Core of Broadband" by Marc Szem, ISN Writer

Also available on the Web at

http://www.internetstocknews.com/content1.cfm?edit_id=201

To Get Access to Internet IPO's and FREE Real Time Quotes, Join

Internet Stock News for FREE! Visit

http://www.internetstocknews.com

The entire Broadband market has been gaining momentum all year. Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq:BRCM) has been benefiting from this movement.

Broadcom is one of the leading providers of high-speed transmission and networking equipment. They design and manufacture integrated circuits for Broadband communications. The make key technology that enables high-speed transmission of data, voice, and video. Broadcom's product lines cover high-speed communications devices for TV set-top boxes, cable modems, digital satellite receivers, xDSL receivers, Broadband data transmission devices, Fast Ethernet networking devices, and high-speed home networking devices. Broadcom products work over existing network infrastructure such as coaxial cable and twisted-pair copper lines. They have significant market share in all of the markets that they target.

Competition for Broadcom has been mounting on all fronts. Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC), National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) and Motorola (NYSE:MOT) have entered into the high-speed transmission and device market. In August, Intel unveiled its new line of high speed networking chips that are similar to Broadcom's networking chips. Intel has a strong brand name in the PC sector and could become a major threat to Broadcom. National Semi offers a set-box processor called Media GX. America Online (NYSE:AOL) selected the Media GX processor for their new set-top boxes. National Semi recently turned the focus of its Cyrix division away from PCs, towards telecommunications and high speed networking products. The shift is not surprising when you consider the recent decline in chip prices and gross margins inherent of the PC chip sector.

Motorola has taken a giant step into the TV set-top box market. On Wednesday, they announced that they would merge with leading TV set-top box manufacturer, General Instruments (NYSE:GIC). Additionally, they recently received certification from Excite@Home (Nasdaq:ATHM), for Motorola's new cable modem. This means that Motorola's cable modem is approved for use with the Excite@Home Internet service. Broadcom's stock was hit hard on the merger announcement because General Instruments is one of Broadcom's top customers. The reaction seems a little severe since Broadcom sells its products to Motorola as well. Only a few of Broadcom's products compete directly with Motorola's current line of high-speed products. Broadcom's stock is up almost 200% since January and trades at a hefty, 150 times 1999 earning, so the stock was due for some profit-taking, but business for them is not as bad as the recent stock activity would have you believe.

Broadcom has a wide variety of products for high-speed data transmission. They continue to grow and innovate their product lines. Their new StrataSwitch chip performs the work currently required by 10 separate chips, using Broadcom's multi-layer switching technology. It can receive, prioritize, and forward packets of voice, data, and video, at high speeds, over existing corporate network infrastructure. Broadcom has been building its brand name in the Broadband transmission market and is well respected in the industry. This is reflected in their customer list. Other customers, in addition to General Instruments and Motorola, include 3Com (Nasdaq:COMS), Nortel (NYSE:NT), Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), Scientific Atlanta (NYSE:SFA), and Panasonic. Obviously the industry giants are seeing an excellent opportunity in the emerging market of Broadband circuits and devices. However, it may take a while for the competition to close the technology gap separating Broadcom from the rest of the pack.

Article also available on the Web at http://www.internetstocknews.com/content1.cfm?edit_id=201

About Internet Stock News

Internet Stock News is a free media publication providing FREE real time quotes, access to Internet Initial Public Offerings (IPO's), independent news, research, and commentary about the Internet investment revolution. Interested analysts, brokers, institutional & individual investors may subscribe to Internet Stock News for free at http://www.internetstocknews.com

Members will be periodically informed of ground floor investment opportunities in Internet companies such as: Ariba (Nasdaq:ARBA), Broadvision (Nasdaq:BVSN), Rhythms NetConnections (Nasdaq:RTHM), Stamps.com (Nasdaq:STMP), CDnow (Nasdaq:CDNW), AdForce (Nasdaq: ADFC), Digital Island (Nasdaq:ISLD), Juno Online (Nasdaq:JWEB), mapquest.com (Nasdaq:MQST), NetGravity, Inc. (Nasdaq:NETG), Razorfish (Nasdaq:RAZF), WebTrends (Nasdaq:WEBT), Sportsline USA (Nasdaq:SPLN), theglobe.com (Nasdaq:TGLO), Garden.com (Nasdaq:GDEN), Macromedia, Inc. (Nasdaq:MACR) and Copper Mountain (Nasdaq:CMTN).