Day1 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 博通悄然崛起 Flashcards
原文：Broadcom’s quiet rise
FEW COMPANIES have gained as much value with as little fanfare as Broadcom has in recent years. Since the end of 2022 the American chipmaker’s market capitalisation has rocketed from around $230bn to more than $700bn. It is now the world’s 11th-most valuable company and its thirdmost valuable chipmaker, behind only Nvidia, the leader in artificial-intelligence ( AI) semiconductors, and TSMC, the biggest manufacturer of them.
Like Nvidia and TSMC, Broadcom has profited richly from the AI frenzy. Tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft rely heavily on Nvidia’s processors to run their AI models, but they have also been developing their own custom chips, and have turned to Broadcom for help. A recently released version of Google’s AI chip was developed by Broadcom. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is reportedly exploring designing a custom chip with the company’s assistance. Broadcom has also benefited from its position as one of the leading suppliers of networking chips for data centres and its ownership of VMware, which makes software for in-house “private clouds”. Demand for both has rocketed amid the AI mania.
The upshot has been a surge in sales and profits. Analysts reckon that in the quarter ending in August Broadcom’s revenue grew by 47% and its operating profit by 39%, year on year; the company will report its results on September 5th, after The Economist goes to press.
As jittery investors begin to wonder how long the AI boom can last, they would do well to remember that Broadcom’s rise began well before the coming of ChatGPT. In the decade preceding the chatbot’s release Broadcom’s value increased 20-fold (see chart on next page). More than whizzy technologies, it is dealmaking that has fuelled the company’s growth; since its founding in 2005 the firm has spent more than $140bn on acquisitions. More than a tech firm, Broadcom is a buy-out shop.
Broadcom began life in 2005 as Avago, a spin-off from Agilent Technologies, a manufacturer of electrical components, that itself was carved out of Hewlett-Packard in 1999. In 2015, after acquiring a string of smaller semiconductor firms, Avago struck a deal to devour Broadcom, a chip designer with revenues that were nearly double its own, for $37bn—and then took the bigger company’s name.
Soon Broadcom ran out of big chipmakers that it could buy without ruffling trustbusters’ feathers. Its attempted takeover of Qualcomm, a maker of smartphone chips, for $130bn was quashed by Donald Trump, then America’s president, in 2018 on national-security grounds. (At the time Broadcom was based in Singapore.) The company thus turned to software instead, which now accounts for about a fifth of its revenue. After gobbling up a a maker of software for mainframe computers and a cyber-security business, it made its largestever acquisition last year, when it forked over $69bn for VMware.
The result today is a sprawling portfolio of loosely related businesses (Broadcom’s motto, fittingly, is “Connecting Everything”). Yet there is a logic to the company’s dealmaking. In choosing its targets, Broadcom looks for firms that have good products and a dominant market share but are poorly run. Its private-equity-style playbook involves slashing costs by eliminating layers of management and focusing on a reduced number of products. In November, shortly after it completed its acquisition of VMware, Broadcom fired 2,800 employees. Price hikes and bundling are common, too, as many of VMware’s customers are now discovering.
That is not to say Broadcom focuses entirely on short-term gains. Sales and marketing departments may be cut down after an acquisition, but investment in research and development is often increased, notes Dan Nishball of SemiAnalysis, a consultancy. Engineers make up almost threequarters of Broadcom’s workforce. Hock Tan, the company’s long-time boss, has argued that fewer non-engineers at a tech firm helps “keep it simple”.
Plenty could yet go wrong for Broadcom. Although it is less dependent on AI than Nvidia, a slowdown in spending on the technology would be painful. Its customers, including Apple and Google, are also ramping up their own chip design efforts, which could undermine its lucrative business for custom silicon. Designing AI chips is tricky, notes Mark Lipacis of Evercore, an investment bank; it will take time for Broadcom’s customers to develop the necessary know-how. But other challengers could still crop up. It is rumoured that Nvidia may soon start designing chips for some of its larger customers.
An even bigger worry may be succession. Mr Tan, who is in his 70s, has run the company since 2006. Broadcom’s boss has been rewarded handsomely for his efforts; he was the highest-paid chief executive of any company in America’s S&P 500 index last year, with a package worth $162m. Finding a successor with both technical expertise and Mr Tan’s knack for dealmaking will be tough. For now he has said he plans to be at the helm for at least the next four years. Mr Tan may have a few more deals left in him yet. ■
翻译：Broadcom 悄然崛起
近年来，很少有公司能像博通公司（Broadcom）那样，在不引人注意的情况下获得如此高的价值。自 2022 年底以来，这家美国芯片制造商的市值已从约 2,300 亿美元飙升至超过 7,000 亿美元。它现在是全球第11大最有价值的公司和第三大最有价值的芯片制造商，仅次于人工智能（AI）半导体领域的领导者英伟达（Nvidia）和最大的制造商台积电（TSMC）。
与英伟达和台积电一样，博通也从人工智能狂潮中获利颇丰。谷歌、亚马逊和微软等科技巨头在很大程度上依赖 Nvidia 的处理器来运行它们的人工智能模型，但它们也一直在开发自己的定制芯片，并向博通寻求帮助。最近发布的谷歌人工智能芯片版本就是由博通公司开发的。据报道，ChatGPT 的制造商 OpenAI 正在博通的协助下探索设计一款定制芯片。博通公司作为数据中心网络芯片的主要供应商之一，并拥有为企业内部 “私有云 ”提供软件的 VMware 公司，这也使其受益匪浅。在人工智能热潮的推动下，这两方面的需求都在激增。
其结果是销售额和利润激增。分析师认为，在截至 8 月的一个季度里，博通公司的收入同比增长了 47%，营业利润同比增长了 39%；该公司将在 9 月 5 日《经济学人》发稿后公布业绩。
当忧心忡忡的投资者开始怀疑人工智能热潮还能持续多久时，他们最好记住，博通的崛起早在 ChatGPT 出现之前就已经开始了。在聊天机器人发布前的十年间，博通公司的价值增长了 20 倍（见下页图表）。自 2005 年成立以来，该公司已花费超过 1400 亿美元进行收购。博通不仅是一家技术公司，还是一家收购商店。
博通公司的前身是安捷伦科技公司（Agilent Technologies），安捷伦科技公司于 1999 年从惠普（Hewlett-Packard）剥离出来。2015 年，在收购了一连串较小的半导体公司后，Avago 达成协议，以 370 亿美元的价格吞并了收入几乎是自己两倍的芯片设计公司博通（Broadcom），然后使用了这家大公司的名字。
很快，博通公司就失去了既能收购又不会触怒信任保护者的大型芯片制造商。2018 年，时任美国总统的唐纳德-特朗普（Donald Trump）以国家安全为由，否决了博通以 1300 亿美元收购智能手机芯片制造商高通公司（Qualcomm）的企图。(博通当时的总部设在新加坡）因此，该公司转而发展软件业务，目前软件业务约占其收入的五分之一。在吞并了一家大型计算机软件制造商和一家网络安全企业之后，博通在去年斥资 690 亿美元收购了 VMware，成为该公司最大的一笔收购。
如今，博通公司的业务组合已十分庞杂，且相关性不强（博通公司的座右铭是 “连接一切”，非常贴切）。然而，该公司的交易是有逻辑的。在选择目标时，Broadcom 会寻找那些拥有优质产品和主导市场份额但经营不善的公司。博通的私募股权投资策略包括通过消除管理层次和减少产品数量来削减成本。11 月，在完成对 VMware 的收购后不久，Broadcom 就解雇了 2800 名员工。正如 VMware 的许多客户现在发现的那样，涨价和捆绑销售也很常见。
这并不是说 Broadcom 完全着眼于短期利益。咨询公司 SemiAnalysis 的丹-尼什鲍尔（Dan Nishball）指出，收购后，销售和营销部门可能会裁员，但研发投资往往会增加。工程师几乎占博通员工总数的四分之三。该公司的长期老板霍克-谭（Hock Tan）认为，减少科技公司的非工程师人数有助于 “保持简单”。
博通还可能出很多问题。虽然与英伟达相比，博通对人工智能的依赖程度较低，但如果在该技术上的支出放缓，也会让博通痛苦不堪。博通的客户，包括苹果和谷歌，也在加大自己的芯片设计力度，这可能会削弱其利润丰厚的定制芯片业务。投资银行 Evercore 的马克-利帕西斯（Mark Lipacis）指出，设计人工智能芯片非常棘手；博通的客户需要时间来掌握必要的技术诀窍。但其他挑战者仍有可能出现。据传，英伟达（Nvidia）可能很快就会开始为一些大客户设计芯片。
更大的隐忧可能是接班人问题。70 多岁的陈先生自 2006 年以来一直在管理公司。博通的老板因其努力而获得了丰厚的回报；去年，他是美国标准普尔500指数公司中薪酬最高的首席执行官，待遇高达1.62亿美元。要找到一位既有技术专长又有陈先生交易诀窍的继任者将非常困难。目前，他表示计划至少在未来四年内继续掌舵公司。陈先生可能还会做几笔交易。■
Knack
⭐⭐⭐ 技能，本领，天赋。
例句: “He has a knack for making successful deals.”
他在达成成功交易方面有独到的本领。
capitalisation
⭐️⭐️ /ˌkæpɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ 资本化
词源：源自法语单词 “capitalisation”，来自拉丁语 “capitalis”（主要的）和 “-ation”（行为或过程），指涉及将成本转化为固定资产的财务过程。
例句：The company’s market capitalisation has doubled in the past year.
公司的市场资本化在过去一年中翻了一番。
semiconductors
⭐️ /ˌsɛmikənˈdʌktərz/ 半导体
词源：来自 “semi-“（部分的）和 “conductor”（导体），指部分导电的材料，广泛应用于电子设备中。
例句：Semiconductors are crucial components in modern electronic devices.
半导体是现代电子设备中的关键组件。
frenzy
⭐️⭐️ /ˈfrɛnzi/ 狂热
词源：源自中古英语 “frenesie”，来自拉丁语 “phrenesis”，意为精神错乱，现指极度激动或狂热的状态。
例句：The city was in a frenzy of excitement for the championship game.
城市因为冠军赛而疯狂激动。
acquisitions
⭐️⭐️ /ˌæk.wɪˈzɪʃ.ən/ 收购
词源：来自拉丁语 “acquisitio”，由 “ad-“（向）和 “quaerere”（寻求）组成，指通过购买获得的公司或资产。
例句：The firm has spent billions on acquisitions to expand its market presence.
该公司花费数十亿进行收购，以扩大其市场存在。
portfolio
⭐️⭐️ /pɔːrtˈfoʊlioʊ/ 投资组合
词源：意大利语 “portafoglio”，由 “porta”（携带）和 “foglio”（纸张）组成，原指文件夹，现指个人或机构的投资集合。
例句：She diversified her investment portfolio to manage risk better.
她多样化她的投资组合以更好地管理风险。
operating profit
⭐️⭐️⭐️ /ˈɒp.ə.reɪ.tɪŋ ˈprɒf.ɪt/ 营业利润
词源：组合词，”operating” 来自 “operate”（操作，运行），”profit” 来自拉丁语 “proficere”（进步，获益），指从日常业务活动中获得的利润。
例句：The company’s operating profit has shown significant growth compared to last year.
revenue
⭐️⭐️ /ˈrɛv.ə.njuː/ 收入
词源：来自法语 “revenu”，源自拉丁语 “revenire”（返回），原指收到的钱财或收益，现指公司或政府的收入。
例句：The company’s annual revenue exceeded expectations this year.
今年公司的年收入超出了预期。
acquisition
⭐️⭐️ /æk.wɪˈzɪʃ.ən/ 收购
词源：来自拉丁语 “acquisitio”，由 “ad-“（向）和 “quaerere”（寻求）组成，指通过购买获得的公司或资产。
例句：The acquisition of the small startup by the tech giant made headlines.
科技巨头对这家小型初创公司的收购登上了头条。
mainframe
⭐️⭐️ /ˈmeɪn.freɪm/ 主机
词源：来自 “main”（主要的）和 “frame”（结构），原指大型计算机的主体结构，现指大型核心计算机系统。
例句：The mainframe is critical for processing large amounts of data quickly.
主机对于快速处理大量数据至关重要。
cyber-security
⭐️⭐️ /ˈsaɪ.bər sɪˈkjʊə.rɪ.ti/ 网络安全
例句：Investments in cyber-security are crucial to protect sensitive data.
投资网络安全对于保护敏感数据至关重要。
succession
⭐️⭐️ /səkˈseʃ.ən/ 继任
词源：来自拉丁语 “successio”，源自 “succedere”（接替），指一个人或事物接替另一个的行为或过程。
例句：The company has a detailed plan for management succession.
该公司有一个详细的管理层继任计划。
lucrative
⭐️⭐️ /ˈluː.krə.tɪv/ 获利丰厚的
词源：来自拉丁语 “lucrativus”，源自 “lucrum”（利润），指产生大量利润或金钱的。
例句：They considered the project to be highly lucrative.
他们认为这个项目非常赚钱。
ramp up
⭐️⭐️ /ræmp ʌp/ 加强，增加
词源：由 “ramp”（斜坡）和 “up”（向上）组成，本义指增加速度或强度，逐渐提升。
例句：The factory ramped up production to meet the growing demand.
工厂加强生产以满足日益增长的需求。
tricky
⭐️⭐️ /ˈtrɪk.i/ 棘手的
词源：来自 “trick”（诡计），含有处理复杂或难以解决问题的难度意味。
例句：Navigating the narrow streets without a map can be tricky.
在没有地图的情况下导航狭窄的街道可能很棘手。
