Broadcom Corporation, a provider of integrated semiconductor solutions for broadband communications, has signed an agreement to acquire Zyray Wireless, a provider of baseband co-processors addressing WCDMA mobile devices.
Zyray’s SPINNERchip co-processor enables third generation (3G) mobile communications technology to be added to current generation phone handsets and data terminals. Broadcom’s has existing EDGE/GPRS/GSM mobile products to ad to Zyray’s WCDMA solution. Broadcom intends to pairing the SPINNERchip technology with its single-chip EDGE/GPRS/GSM and GPRS/GSM baseband processors, enabling two-chip WCDMA multi-mode phones in the near term and potentially future solutions with enhanced integration.
According to a recent Deutsche Bank Securities market report, the worldwide WCDMA market is expected to approach 200 million units by 2008 — 25% of total handset sales.