Can Broadcom Corporation (BRCM) Score One of Qualcomm’s Best Spots?

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) was able to expand its design wins last year in the iPhone 5. Previously, Broadcom’s main spot was providing the Wi-Fi combo chip in earlier models. In the most recent iPhone, Broadcom was able to score a second seat by providing an additional touchscreen microcontroller to complement the one provided by Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN), which has historically provided that chip. A second microcontroller was needed in order to handle the larger 4-inch display.

Next year’s iPhone is up for grabs right now, and Broadcom’s BCM21892 offers a value proposition that Apple places high priority on: increased integration. By leveraging its RF strengths, Broadcom has a shot at stealing the iPhone baseband spot from Qualcomm. At the same time, Qualcomm is no slouch on the integration front and the company announced its own LTE Advanced chipsets (third generation) almost exactly one year ago, which were scheduled to begin sampling just last quarter.

The outcome of this contest is far from determined, and there are mighty contenders vying for Apple’s attention.

The article Can Broadcom Score One of Qualcomm’s Best Spots? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Evan Niu, CFA.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Apple, Verizon Communications, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Google, and NVIDIA. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, China Mobile, Google, and Qualcomm.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.