now CSR. we will see
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I don't think it's a failure at all. Let's look at what the atheros acquisition did bring... It did manage to kick Broadcom /Marvel / Nvidia and others out of the running for LTE/app/connectivity as an entire solution. And it was successful for sometime. The CSR purchase will add to the connectivity arsenal, as they are both strong on audio Bluetooth and carkits/automotive. One thing about the automotive market is that once you are a supplier, it's really really hard to get kicked out, because the product cycle of developing anything takes a really really long time. So it's unlikely Broadcom or anyone else for that matter will make any headwind into the automotive markets for some time. And the margins in the automotive market are much better than say a connectivity chip for a smartphone. CSR is also really strong on high end audio, something where again companies like Broadcom and Marvel are lacking (Broadcom got out of the headset market some time back and never returned). Most headsets and aftermarket Bluetooth carkits are all CSR based. Broadcom is only strong in mobile, desktop, and arguably IOT (though that market doesn't really have a dominating player yet.) That's not to be taken lightly. In the smartphone business, so long as a customer is willing to buy the complete solution (Snapdragon/LTEmodem/connectivity), we'll be fine. The moment OEMs start wanting to break up the bundle, we won't win the connectivity business since Broadcom still leads the combo chip business for mobile phones, and their combo is regarded as high end versus atheros or anyone else's for that matter. In hindsight, Qualcomm probably should have just bought Broadcom, taken the connectivity business, and sold the rest off. It probably would have been cheaper than buying both Atheros and CSR. And who knows. With the way things are going with Avago, that group might be up for sale.