Broadcom Corp. has at least three chips in the new iPad, according to the tear-down specialists at ifixit.com.
Apple Inc.’s third-generation tablet features a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM transceiver chip from the Irvine chipmaker, as well as a controller and microprocessor, ifixit cofounder Luke Soules revealed during a live tear-down on the San Luis Obispo-based technology website.
Soules flew more than 2,000 miles to Melbourne, Australia, to be one of the first consumers to purchase Apple’s latest tablet, released March 10 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and Britain. Analysts expected the new iPad to surpass 1 million units sold in the first 24 hours.
Apple has sold 55 million iPads since the first version launched in 2010. The company was Broadcom’s biggest customer in 2011, holding the designation for a second straight year.
Cupertino-based Apple electronics accounted for about $970 million in revenue for Broadcom, or 13.1% of its nearly $7.4 billion in sales in 2011, according to the chipmaker’s annual report filed last month. A large portion of Broadcom gains came in the mobile and wireless segment, where annual sales grew 20.6% to $3.4 billion.
Broadcom also makes communications, radio and touch-screen chips that go into Apple’s iPods, iPhones and iPads, among other products.
Ifixit.com reported last June it had uncovered a Broadcom Wi-Fi transceiver and Bluetooth in Apple’s new MacBook Air.
Broadcom tends to stay tight-lipped on its business ties with Apple but made an exception in September when Chief Executive Scott McGregor made comments about Apple cofounder Steve Jobs in the wake of his decision to step down as chief executive. Jobs died in October after fighting pancreatic cancer.
Broadcom’s stock performance tends to track Apple’s.
Quantum IPO
Irvine-based hybrid auto parts maker Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. raised $14.6 million last week in a public stock offering, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Proceeds will be used to pay down $3.88 million in debt, and the balance will be earmarked for working capital and other corporate purposes.
Roth Capital Partners LLC in Newport Beach managed the transaction.
Quantum, a big supplier of hybrid powertrains to Anaheim-based hybrid luxury carmaker Fisker Automotive Inc., saw $24.5 million in revenue in 2011, up 133% from a year earlier.
The increase was primarily driven by more component shipments to Fisker for its hybrid drive systems.
Quantum Chief Executive Alan Niedzwiecki expects “significant” revenue growth in 2012, as demand for alternative fuel increases.
The company has struggled to find its niche in various business lines over the years but is off to a good start this year. It recently received new purchase orders totaling $750,000 for its ultra-light-weight, compressed natural gas storage tanks that will be installed in heavy-duty and light-duty fleet vehicles.
Those orders came on the heels of an engineering contract from Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. to develop hydrogen systems for commercial vehicles. Quantum will modify Mahindra’s smaller engines to run on clean hydrogen under the deal and supply its ultra-light-weight hydrogen storage and fuel injection systems.
Quantum’s share price has hovered at about $1 for the past three months, forming a recent market value of about $20 million. That’s off 75% from a year earlier.
M86 Sale
M86 Security, an Irvine-based data and security protection services provider, has been acquired by a Chicago technology company.
Trustwave, which provides cloud-based and Web security IT services, expects the deal to close this month.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
M86 employs about 300 in offices in Irvine and London, and development centers in Israel and New Zealand.
Trustwave employs about 650 people and sees more than $100 million in annual revenue.
The buy represents the company’s first entree into California and adds more than 25,000 customers with 26 million users in more than 96 countries. It also builds its portfolio in a growing segment.
The global Web security market is forecasted to grow from $1.7 billion in sales in 2010 to $3 billion in 2015, a 12.1% annual growth rate, according to Framingham, Mass.-based market researcher International Data Corp.
Hillel Sackstein, president of Irvine-based Virtual Graffiti Inc., an M86 product reseller, said the acquisition makes for a good addition to Trustwave’s product offerings.
“I expect a very positive benefit to current M86 customers through the integration and addition of Trustwave’s impressive technologies,” Sackstein said.
