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BRIAN SANTO
Broadcom continued its acquisition binge by purchasing VisionTech, which supplies digital video/audio MPEG-2 compression and decompression chips for set-top terminals to Motorola Broadband Communications Sector, Scientific-Atlanta, Pace, Microsoft WebTV and Replay TV, among others.
The purchase, a stock deal valued at about $670 million, gets Broadcom a stake in personal video recording (PVR) technology.
Calling this a shotgun marriage might be overstating the case a bit, but the acquisition will work to the benefit of several set-top box manufacturers who are customers of both Broadcom and VisionTech.
It was simply too convenient for Broadcom to bring VisionTech's technology in-house. PVR is shaping up as the next most important incremental service to be offered widely after video-on-demand (VOD); it would likely be rolled out along with voice over IP (VOIP) services. VisionTech's ICs enable not only video recording, however, but also allow videoconferencing and IP video streaming.
Motorola is incorporating VisionTech PVR technology in its DCT-5000 set-top terminals, which are built around Broadcom's set-top ICs.
"We've been impressed with VisionTech's technology and highly talented engineers," said Dave Robinson, SVP/GM of Motorola's Digital Network System business unit, "and applaud both Broadcom and VisionTech in their decision to combine resources."
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