Newport Beach’s Conexant Systems Inc., a maker of chips for computer speakers, modems, digital picture frames and other electronics, promoted one of its own to second-in-command.
Sailesh Chittipeddi is set to be the company’s president and chief operating officer after some training.
He most recently was co-president alongside Christian Scherp, handling engineering, operations, quality control, information technology and other North America operations.
Chittipeddi joined Conexant in 2006 as senior vice president of global operations.
The promotion is a subtle shift and puts Chittipeddi in line to succeed Chief Executive Scott Mercer, who has held the top post since 2008 and also serves as chairman.
In his new role, Chittipeddi is set to head worldwide engineering, operations, quality control and marketing.
He’ll continue to report to Mercer.
“Sailesh is a seasoned senior executive with an outstanding record of accomplishment at Conexant and throughout the course of his career,” Mercer said.
Prior to joining Conexant, Chittipeddi spent nearly two decades in several senior engineering and operations positions with Agere Systems Inc., now part of Milpitas-based LSI Corp. He also worked for New Jersey’s Alcatel-Lucent and research units of AT&T Inc.
Chittipeddi has racked up a catalog of master’s degrees in physics and business as well as a doctorate in physics. He also holds 61 chip patents.
Broadcom’s Latest
Irvine-based communications chipmaker Broadcom Corp.—which has been on a roll with acquisitions this year—scooped up Redwood City’s Gigle Networks Inc. for up to $83 million.
Gigle Networks makes what’s called powerline networking chips, which allows Ethernet signals to run over existing electrical wires within a home.
Broadcom agreed to pay $75 million for Gigle Networks and will tack on $8 million if certain goals are met.
Both companies’ boards have signed off on the deal, which is expected to close by the year’s end.
Gigle Networks has some 70 employees in Spain, Scotland and Northern California.
The company, which started in 2006, raised some $20 million in a second round of venture funding in 2007 from Britain’s Scottish Equity Partners LLC and Pond Venture Partners, and Palo Alto-based Accel Partners.
Broadcom has been doing a lot of small technology deals.
Last month, it picked up Santa Clara’s Beceem Communications Inc., a maker of chips for the next generation of mobile phones, for $316 million. That came a few weeks after it agreed to buy Israel’s Percello Ltd. for up to $98 million in cash.
Percello makes chips, known as “femtocells,” that help extend cellular coverage indoors where signals are weak.
In July, Broadcom paid $47.5 million for Britain’s Innovision Research & Technology PLC, which makes chips that allow for what is known as near field communication, or the wireless exchange of data within a matter of inches.
Broadcom’s chips are found in computers, servers, cell phones and consumer electronics.
E-Reading the Future
The growing market of electronic readers could bring in big bucks for chip and memory products makers, including Broadcom, Fountain Valley’s Kingston Technology Co. and others.
The e-reader market is projected to be a “$1 billion opportunity” next year, according to data from Scottsdale-based market researcher In-Stat LLC.
Sales of e-readers made by Amazon.com Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc., Sony Corp. and others are set to grow by nearly 200% in the next three years to 35 million, In-Stat’s research showed.
“The e-reader creates new opportunities for microprocessor and memory vendors,” said In-Stat senior analyst Stephanie Ethier.
Ethier said that falling prices for e-readers likely will spur sales.
In-Stat’s data showed e-reader prices will continue to drop, with a $99 model making its debut for the holidays.
Prices on chips, however, are set to stay fairly buoyant.
“The processor average selling price will be the most resilient over the forecast period, only declining 18% from 2009 to 2014,” she said.
Predixion Adds Microsoft Vet
Aliso Viejo-based Predixion Software Inc. added a Microsoft Corp. veteran to its advisory board.
Bill Baker, a former Microsoft business intelligence executive and engineer, is set to help guide the startup’s progress.
Predixion’s software crunches data to come up with projections. It works with Microsoft’s Excel and PowerPivot and is designed to be used by customers in healthcare, marketing and financial services, among others.
Baker serves on several corporate and advisory boards and assists a number of local software startups in the Seattle area.
Earlier this year Predixion raised about $8 million in venture funding.
Its founders include Chief Executive Simon Arkell and a trio of former executives from Aliso Viejo-based software company Datallegro Inc., which in 2008 was acquired by Microsoft for $275 million.