You'll be forgiven for not knowing the name HP Associates, but is now one of the largest companies in the world.
It was the semiconductor products division of Hewlett Packard, founded in 1961. It marked the beginning of a long and winding road that would ultimately culminate in the creation of Broadcom, a modern technology giant that became just one of a select few firms to surpass $1 trillion in market capitalization at the end of 2024.
But Broadcom is more than just a chip maker; because it's controversial VMware acquisitionThe company has made notable strides in the cloud infrastructure and software industries—so here's everything you need to know about Broadcom.
From its humble beginnings at Hewlett Packard in 1961, the company remained less a company and more a business segment of the Silicon Valley giant – at least until 1999, when it split under the Agilent Technologies subsidiary.
The company soon became known as Avago Technologies. The change came after KKR and Silver Lake Partners acquired Agilent's semiconductor business in 2005 in a deal valued at $2.6 billion.
This turned out to be a successful period in the company's history. The company went public on NASDAQ in August 2009, followed by a period of aggressive acquisitions and expansion.
Transactions with CyOptics, Amantus and LSI Corporation allowed the company to expand its presence and enter new, profitable markets. The latter in particular has allowed it to increase spending in the data center industry.
Several years and several more acquisitions culminated in the acquisition of Broadcom Corporation. Now I know what you're thinking – was Brodke already?
Broadcom Corporation, founded in 1991, was a fabless semiconductor company based in California. Given Avago's trajectory, the acquisition made sense, and in this case they decided to simply combine the companies under the Broadcom name.
The deal, valued at $37 billion, is arguably one of the most influential acquisitions in technology history, instantly creating an industry giant with revenue streams of up to $15 billion and a total market value of $77 billion.
Broadcom Corp's long-standing reputation in key sectors such as data centers and mobile meant the deal was a fortuitous match following Avago's aggressive acquisition campaign in recent years.
Broadcom has gone from strength to strength since its 2016 merger and is firmly among the world's leading chipmakers. However, the tech giant has courted controversy in recent years, especially after acquiring VMware.
After acquiring the company, Broadcom began radically overhauling its practices, most notably eliminating perpetual licenses, which sparked a furious backlash among customers.
Changes in affiliate programs have also raised concerns and sparked a boom in the industry among rivals hoping to lure away customers angered by price hikes and the elimination of solution lines.
Despite the negative reaction from customers, the acquisition appears to be paying dividends for Broadcom so far. Combined with its artificial intelligence strategy, the company has reported strong financial results in recent months.
Financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025, released in September, showed that revenue grew 22% compared to the same period in fiscal 2024. A key driver of this, the company noted, is VMware and the demand for dedicated AI accelerators.
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