AMD Sells DTV Biz To Broadcom For $192.8M

The deal includes Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD's Xilleon integrated DTV processors and turnkey reference designs, NXT receiver ICs, the Theater 300 DTV processor and a line of panel processors that perform advanced motion compensation, frame rate conversion and scaling, according to the companies. The 530 AMD employees on its DTV team will be able to join Irvine, Calif.-based Broadcom, the two companies said in a statement.

AMD announced during its second quarter earnings call in mid-July that it planned to divest its Handheld and DTV businesses. The chip maker had just reported its seventh straight quarterly loss and on the same call with analysts announced the resignation of Hector Ruiz as CEO. Ruiz was replaced by AMD's then- COO Dirk Meyer.

Meyer, asked about AMD's plans to "get leaner and meaner," told ChannelWeb two weeks ago that he was "working with our leadership team to accelerate this process and we are making progress."

Broadcom, a supplier of integrated circuits for broadband communications, said the acquisition will allow it "to offer a complete product line that covers all segments of the DTV market ranging from low-end value and mid-range quality to high-end interactive platforms and panel processors."