Before deciding to purchase, hold or sell our common stock, you should carefully consider the risks described below in addition to the other information contained in this Report and in our other filings with the SEC, including subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business. If any of these known or unknown risks or uncertainties actually occurs with material adverse effects on Broadcom, our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or liquidity could be seriously harmed. In that event, the market price for our Class A common stock will likely decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly.

Our quarterly net revenue and operating results have fluctuated significantly in the past and are likely to continue to vary from quarter to quarter. Variability in the nature of our operating results may be attributed to the factors identified throughout this “Risk Factors” section, many of which may be outside our control, including:

We depend on a few significant customers for a substantial portion of our revenue.

We derive a substantial portion of our revenue from sales to a relatively small number of customers. Sales to our five largest customers represented 42.6%, 38.6% and 34.6% of our total net revenue for 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively. We expect that our largest customers will continue to account for a substantial portion of our total net revenue for the foreseeable future. The loss of any significant customer could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

A significant portion of our revenue in any period may also depend on a single product design win with a large customer. As a result, the loss of any such key design win or any significant delay in the ramp of volume production of the customer’s products into which our product is designed could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. We may not be able to maintain sales to certain of our key customers or continue to secure key design wins for a variety of reasons, including:

In addition, the majority of our licensing revenues and related income to date has been derived from agreements with two customers, Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm. From January 2008 through December 2011, we recorded $753 million in licensing revenue and related income derived from Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm and we expect

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to record an additional $272 million. The licensing revenue from our agreement with Verizon Wireless has ended and the income from the Qualcomm Agreement is non-recurring and will terminate in 2013. There can be no assurances that we will be able to enter into additional such arrangements in the future, or that we will be able to successfully collect the remaining payments due to us under the Qualcomm Agreement in the event of a default by Qualcomm.

The loss of a key customer or design win, a reduction in sales to any key customer, decrease in licensing revenue, significant delay in our customers’ product development plans, or our inability to attract new significant customers or secure new key design wins could seriously impact our revenue and materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

We face intense competition.

The semiconductor industry and the wired and wireless communications markets are intensely competitive. We expect competition to continue to increase as new markets develop, as industry standards become well known and as other competitors enter our business. We expect to encounter further consolidation in the markets in which we compete.

Many of our competitors have longer operating histories and presences in key markets, greater name recognition, larger customer bases, and significantly greater financial, sales and marketing, manufacturing, distribution, technical and other resources than we do, and in some cases operate their own fabrication facilities. These competitors may be able to adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements. They may also be able to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of their products. We also face competition from newly established competitors, suppliers of products, and customers who choose to develop their own semiconductor solutions.

Existing or new competitors may develop technologies that more effectively address our markets with products that offer enhanced features and functionality, lower power requirements, greater levels of integration or lower cost. Increased competition also has resulted in and is likely to continue to result in increased expenditures on research and development, declining average selling prices, reduced gross margins and loss of market share in certain markets. These factors in turn create increased pressure to consolidate. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to compete successfully against current or new competitors. If we do not compete successfully, we may lose market share in our existing markets and our revenues may fail to increase or may decline.

We face risks associated with our acquisition strategy.

A key element of our business strategy involves expansion through the acquisitions of businesses, assets, products or technologies. The expansion of our business through acquisitions allows us to complement our existing product offerings, expand our market coverage, increase our engineering workforce or enhance our technological capabilities. We may not be able to identify or consummate future acquisitions or realize the desired benefit from these acquisitions.

We face a number of challenges associated with our acquisition strategy that could disrupt our ongoing business and distract our management team, including:

Acquisitions can result in increased debt or contingent liabilities. While we believe we will have the ability to service any additional debt we may potentially issue in connection with acquisitions, our ability to make principal and interest payments when due depends upon our future performance, which will be subject to general economic

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conditions, industry cycles, and business and other factors affecting our operations, including the other risk factors described in this section, many of which are beyond our control. Acquisitions can also result in adverse tax consequences, warranty or product liability exposure related to acquired assets, additional stock-based compensation expense, write up of acquired inventory to fair value, and the recording and later amortization of amounts related to certain purchased intangible assets. In addition, we may record goodwill and other purchased intangible assets in connection with an acquisition and incur impairment charges in the future. Each of the above may apply equally to our pending acquisition of NetLogic Microsystems, Inc., which is our largest acquisition to date.

We may fail to adjust our operations in response to changes in demand.

Through internal growth and acquisitions, we significantly modified the scope of our operations and workforce in recent years. Our operations are characterized by a high percentage of costs that are fixed or difficult to reduce in the short term, such as research and development expenses and our highly skilled workforce. During some periods, our growth has placed a significant strain on our management personnel, systems and resources. To respond to periods of increased demand, we will be required to expand, train, manage and motivate our workforce. Alternatively, in response to the economic downturn in the markets in the semiconductor industry and communications market, we may be required to implement restructuring actions and a number of other cost saving measures. All of these endeavors require substantial management effort. If we are unable to effectively manage our expanding operations, we may be unable to adjust our business quickly enough to meet competitive challenges or exploit potential market opportunities, or conversely, we may scale our business too quickly and the rate of increase in our expenses may exceed the rate of increase in our revenue, either of which would materially and adversely affect our current or future business.

Our operating results may be adversely impacted by worldwide economic uncertainties and specific conditions in the markets we address.

We operate primarily in the semiconductor industry, which is cyclical and subject to rapid change and evolving industry standards. From time to time, the semiconductor industry has experienced significant downturns characterized by decreases in product demand, excess customer inventories and accelerated erosion of prices. The semiconductor industry also periodically experiences increased demand and production capacity constraints, which may affect our ability to ship products. An increasing number of our products are being incorporated into consumer electronic products, which are subject to significant seasonality and fluctuations in demand. Economic volatility can cause extreme difficulties for our customers and vendors in accurately forecasting and planning future business activities. This unpredictability could cause our customers to reduce spending on our products and services, which would delay and lengthen sales cycles. Furthermore, during challenging economic times our customers and vendors may face challenges in gaining timely access to sufficient credit, which could impact their ability to make timely payments to us. As a result, we may experience growth patterns that are different than the end demand for products, particularly during periods of high volatility.

We cannot predict the timing, strength or duration of any economic slowdown or recovery or the impact of such events on our customers, our vendors or us. The combination of our lengthy sales cycle coupled with challenging macroeconomic conditions and supply chain cross-dependencies could have a compound impact on our business. The impact of market volatility is not limited to revenue but may also affect our product gross margins and other financial metrics. Any downturn in the semiconductor industry may be severe and prolonged, and any failure of the industry or wired and wireless communications markets to fully recover from downturns could seriously impact our revenue and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our stock price is highly volatile.

The market price of our Class A common stock has fluctuated substantially in the past and is likely to continue to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. From January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2011 our Class A common stock has traded at prices as low as $15.31 and as high as $47.39 per share. Fluctuations have occurred and may continue to occur in response to various factors, many of which we cannot control.

In addition, the market prices of securities of Internet-related, semiconductor and other technology companies have been and remain volatile. This volatility has significantly affected the market prices of securities of many

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technology companies for reasons frequently unrelated to the operating performance of the specific companies. If our operating results do not meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors, who may derive their expectations by extrapolating data from recent historical operating results, the market price of our Class A common stock will likely decline. Accordingly, you may not be able to resell your shares of common stock at or above the price you paid. In the past, we, and other companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities, have been the subject of securities class action litigation.

Due to the nature of our compensation programs, most of our executive officers sell shares of our common stock each quarter or otherwise periodically, often pursuant to trading plans established under Rule 10b5-1 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. As a result, sales of shares by our executive officers may not be indicative of their respective opinions of Broadcom’s performance at the time of sale or of our potential future performance. Nonetheless, the market price of our stock may be affected by sales of shares by our executive officers.

We may be required to defend against alleged infringement of intellectual property rights of others and/or may be unable to adequately protect or enforce our own intellectual property rights.

Companies in the semiconductor industry and the wired and wireless communications markets aggressively protect and pursue their intellectual property rights. From time to time, we receive notices that claim we have infringed upon, misappropriated or misused other parties’ proprietary rights. Additionally, we receive notices that challenge the validity of our patents. Intellectual property litigation can be expensive, time consuming and distracting to management. An adverse determination in any of these types of disputes could prevent us from manufacturing or selling some of our products or could prevent us from enforcing our intellectual property rights.

We may also be required to indemnify some customers and strategic partners under our agreements if a third party alleges or if a court finds that our products or activities have infringed upon, misappropriated or misused another party’s proprietary rights. We have received requests from certain customers and strategic partners to include increasingly broad indemnification provisions in our agreements with them. These indemnification provisions may, in some circumstances, extend our liability beyond the products we provide to include liability for combinations of components or system level designs and for consequential damages and/or lost profits. Even if claims or litigation against us are not valid or successfully asserted, these claims could result in significant costs and diversion of the attention of management and other key employees to defend.

Our products may contain technology provided to us by other parties such as contractors, suppliers or customers. We may have little or no ability to determine in advance whether such technology infringes the intellectual property rights of a third party. Our contractors, suppliers and licensors may not be required to indemnify us in the event that a claim of infringement is asserted against us, or they may be required to indemnify us only up to a maximum amount, above which we would be responsible for any further costs or damages. Any of these claims or litigation may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, our success and future revenue growth will depend, in part, on our ability to protect our intellectual property. It is possible that competitors or other unauthorized third parties may obtain, copy, use or disclose our technologies and processes. Any of our existing or future patents may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. We engage in litigation to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets, or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others, including our customers. If our intellectual property rights do not adequately protect our technology, our competitors may be able to offer products similar to ours.

Our software may be derived from “open source” software, which is generally made available to the public by its authors and/or other third parties. Open source software is often made available under licenses, which impose certain obligations in the event we distribute derivative works of the open source software. These obligations may require us to make source code for the derivative works available to the public, and/or license such derivative works on different terms than those customarily used to protect our intellectual property. With respect to our proprietary software, we generally license such software under terms that prohibit combining it with open source software. Despite these restrictions, parties may combine our proprietary software with open source software without our authorization, in which case we might nonetheless be required to release the source code of our proprietary software.

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We enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and strategic partners. We also control access to and distribution of our technologies, documentation and other proprietary information. Despite these efforts, internal or external parties may attempt to copy, disclose, obtain or use our products, services or technology without our authorization. Additionally, current, departing or former employees or third parties could attempt to penetrate our computer systems and networks to misappropriate our proprietary information and technology or interrupt our business. Because the techniques used by computer hackers and others to access or sabotage networks change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate, counter or ameliorate these techniques. As a result, our technologies and processes may be misappropriated.

We cannot assure you that our efforts to prevent the misappropriation or infringement of our intellectual property or the intellectual property of our customers will succeed. Identifying unauthorized use of our products and technologies is difficult and time consuming. The initiation of litigation may adversely affect our relationships and agreements with certain customers that have a stake in the outcome of the litigation proceedings. Litigation is very expensive and may divert the attention of management and other key employees from the operation of the business, which could negatively impact our business and results of operations.

We are subject to order and shipment uncertainties.

It is difficult to accurately predict demand for our semiconductor products. We typically sell products pursuant to purchase orders rather than long-term purchase commitments. Customers can generally cancel, change or defer purchase orders on short notice without incurring a significant penalty. Our ability to accurately forecast customer demand is further impaired by delays inherent in our lengthy sales cycle. We operate in a dynamic industry and use significant resources to develop new products for existing and new markets. After we have developed a product, there is no guarantee that our customers will integrate our product into their equipment or devices and, ultimately, bring those equipment and devices incorporating our product to market. In these situations, we may never produce or deliver a significant number of our products, even after incurring substantial development expenses. From the time a customer elects to integrate our solution into their product, it is typically six to 24 months before high volume production of that product commences. After volume production begins, we cannot be assured that the equipment or devices incorporating our product will gain market acceptance.

Our products are incorporated into complex devices and systems, creating supply chain cross-dependencies. Accordingly, supply chain disruptions affecting components of our customers’ devices and/or systems could negatively impact the demand for our products, even if the supply of our products is not directly affected.

Our product demand forecasts are based on multiple assumptions, each of which may introduce error into our estimates. In the event we overestimate customer demand, we may allocate resources to manufacturing products that we may not be able to sell. As a result, we could hold excess or obsolete inventory, which would reduce our profit margins and adversely affect our financial results. Conversely, if we underestimate customer demand or if insufficient manufacturing capacity is available, we could forego revenue opportunities and potentially lose market share and damage our customer relationships. Also, due to our industry’s shift to “just-in-time” inventory management, any disruption in the supply chain could lead to more immediate shortages in product or component supply. In addition, an increasing percentage of our inventory is maintained under hubbing arrangements whereby products are delivered to a customer or third party warehouse based upon the customer’s projected needs. Under these arrangements, we do not recognize product revenue until the customer reports that it has removed our product from the warehouse to incorporate into its end products. Our ability to effectively manage inventory levels may be impaired under our hubbing arrangements, which could increase expenses associated with excess and obsolete product inventory and negatively impact our cash flow.

We manufacture and sell complex products and may be unable to successfully develop and introduce new products.

We expect that a high percentage of our future sales will come from sales of new products. We sell products in markets that are characterized by rapid technological change, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and short product life cycles. The markets for some of these products are new to us and may be immature and/or unpredictable. These markets may not develop into profitable opportunities and we have invested substantial resources in emerging technologies that did not achieve the market acceptance that we had expected. As a result, it is difficult to anticipate our future revenue streams from, or the sustainability of, our new products.

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Our industry is dynamic and we are required to devote significant resources to research and development to remain competitive. The development of new silicon devices is highly complex, and due to supply chain cross-dependencies and other issues, we may experience delays in completing the development, production and introduction of our new products. We may choose to discontinue one or more products or product development programs to dedicate more resources to other products. The discontinuation of an existing or planned product may adversely affect our relationship with one or more of our customers.

Our ability to successfully develop and deliver new products will depend on various factors, including our ability to:

If we are not able to develop and introduce new products in a cost effective and timely manner, we will be unable to attract new customers or to retain our existing customers which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

We have experienced hardware and software defects and bugs associated with the introduction of our highly complex products. If any of our products contain defects or bugs, or have reliability, quality or compatibility problems, our reputation may be damaged and customers may be reluctant to buy our products. These problems could interrupt or delay sales and shipments of our products to customers. To alleviate these problems, we may have to divert our resources from other development efforts. In addition, these problems could result in claims against us by our customers or others, including possible claims for consequential damages and/or lost profits.

We are exposed to risks associated with our international operations.

We currently obtain substantially all of our manufacturing, assembly and testing services from suppliers located outside the United States. Products shipped to international destinations, primarily in Asia, represented 98.5%, 97.2% and 94.8% of our product revenue in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. In addition, we undertake various sales and marketing activities through regional offices in a number of countries. We intend to continue expanding our international business activities and to open other design and operational centers abroad.

International operations are subject to many inherent risks, including but not limited to:

Economic conditions in our primary overseas markets, particularly in Asia, may negatively impact the demand for our products abroad. Also, all of our international sales to date have been denominated in U.S. dollars. Accordingly, an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could make our products less competitive in international markets or require us to assume the risk of denominating certain sales in foreign currencies. We anticipate that these factors will impact our business to a greater degree as we further expand our international business activities.

We depend on third parties to fabricate, assemble and test our products.

As a fabless semiconductor company, we do not own or operate fabrication, assembly or test facilities. We rely on third parties to manufacture, assemble and test substantially all of our semiconductor devices. Accordingly, we cannot directly control our product delivery schedules and quality assurance. This lack of control could result in

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product shortages or quality assurance problems. These issues could delay shipments of our products or increase our assembly or testing costs. In addition, the consolidation of foundry subcontractors, as well as the increasing capital intensity and complexity associated with fabrication in smaller process geometries may limit our diversity of suppliers, potentially driving increased wafer prices and adversely affecting our results of operations, including our product gross margins.

We do not have long-term agreements with any of our direct or indirect suppliers, including our manufacturing, assembly or test subcontractors. We typically procure services from these suppliers on a per order basis. In the event our third-party foundry subcontractors experience a disruption or limitation of manufacturing, assembly or testing capacity, we may not be able to obtain alternative manufacturing, assembly and testing services in a timely manner, or at all. Furthermore, our foundries must have new manufacturing processes qualified if there is a disruption in an existing process, which could be time-consuming. We could experience significant delays in product shipments if we are required to find alternative manufactures, assemblers or testers for our products. We are continuing to develop relationships with additional third-party subcontractors to assemble and test our products.

Because we rely on outside foundries and other third party suppliers, we face several significant risks in addition to those discussed above, including:

The manufacture of integrated circuits is a highly complex and technologically demanding process. Our foundries have from time to time experienced lower than anticipated manufacturing yields. This often occurs during the production of new products or the installation and start-up of new process technologies. In addition, we are dependent on our foundry subcontractors to successfully transition to smaller geometry processes.

There can be no assurance that we will continue to declare cash dividends.

In January 2010, our Board of Directors adopted a dividend policy pursuant to which Broadcom would pay quarterly dividends on our common stock. In January 2011, our Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend payment. We intend to continue to pay such dividends subject to capital availability and periodic determinations by our Board of Directors that cash dividends are in the best interest of our shareholders and are in compliance with all laws and agreements of Broadcom applicable to the declaration and payment of cash dividends.

Future dividends may be affected by, among other factors:

Our dividend payments may change from time to time, and we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to increase our dividend payment or declare dividends in any particular amounts or at all. A reduction in our dividend payments could have a negative effect on our stock price.

We may be unable to attract, retain or motivate key personnel.

Our future success depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate senior management and qualified technical personnel. Competition for these employees is intense. If we are unable to attract, retain and motivate such personnel in sufficient numbers and on a timely basis, we will experience difficulty in implementing our current business and product plans. In that event, we may be unable to successfully meet competitive challenges or to exploit potential market opportunities, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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Government regulation may adversely affect our business.

The effects of regulation on our customers or the industries in which they operate may materially and adversely impact our business. For example, the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, has broad jurisdiction in the United States over many of the devices into which our products are incorporated. FCC regulatory policies that affect the ability of cable or satellite operators or telephone companies to offer certain services to their customers or other aspects of their business may impede sales of our products in the United States. In addition, we may experience delays if a product incorporating our chips fails to comply with FCC emissions specifications.

We and our customers are subject to various import and export laws and regulations. Government export regulations apply to the encryption or other features contained in some of our products. If we fail to continue to receive licenses or otherwise comply with these regulations, we may be unable to manufacture the affected products at foreign foundries or ship these products to certain customers, or we may incur penalties or fines.

Our business may also be subject to regulation by countries other than the United States. Foreign governments may impose tariffs, duties and other import restrictions on components that we obtain from non-domestic suppliers and may impose export restrictions on products that we sell internationally. These tariffs, duties or restrictions could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our product or manufacturing standards could also be impacted by new or revised environmental rules and regulations or other social initiatives. For instance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new disclosure requirements relating to the sourcing of certain minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and certain other adjoining countries. When these new requirements are in effect, they could adversely affect our costs, the availability of minerals used in our products and our relationships with customers and suppliers.

Our business is subject to potential tax liabilities.

We are subject to income taxes in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. The amount of income taxes we pay is subject to our interpretation and application of tax laws in jurisdictions in which we file. Changes in current or future laws or regulations, or the imposition of new or changed tax laws or regulations or new related interpretations by taxing authorities in the U.S. or foreign jurisdictions, could adversely affect our results of operations. We are subject to examinations and tax audits. There can be no assurance that the outcomes from these audits will not have an adverse effect on our net operating loss and research and development tax credit carryforwards, our financial position, or our operating results.

In certain foreign jurisdictions, we operate under tax holidays and favorable tax incentives. For instance, in Singapore we operate under tax holidays, which are effective through March 31, 2014, that reduce taxes on substantially all of our operating income in that jurisdiction. Such tax holidays and incentives often require us to meet specified employment and investment criteria in such jurisdictions. In a period of tight manufacturing capacity, our ability to meet Singaporean content in our products may be more limited, which may have adverse tax consequences. More generally, if any of our tax holidays or incentives are terminated or if we fail to meet the criteria to continue to enjoy such holidays or incentives, our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. We have begun discussions with the Singapore Economic Development Board with respect to tax incentives for periods after March 31, 2014. No assurances can be given that such discussions will be successful. If we are unable to reach an agreement with Singapore (or another jurisdiction that provides similar benefits to those we realize from our current incentives in Singapore), our results of operations and financial position for periods after March 31, 2014 will be adversely affected.

Our articles of incorporation and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions.

Our articles of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock. For example, our Board of Directors may also issue shares of Class B common stock in connection with certain acquisitions, which have superior voting rights entitling the holder to ten votes for each share held on matters that we submit to a shareholder vote (as compared to one vote per share in the case of our Class A common stock) as well as the right to vote separately as a class. In addition, our Board of

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Directors has the authority to fix the rights and preferences of shares of our preferred stock and to issue shares of common or preferred stock without a shareholder vote. These provisions, among others, may discourage certain types of transactions involving an actual or potential change in our control.

Our co-founders and their affiliates may control the outcome of matters that require the approval of our shareholders.

As of December 31, 2011 our co-founders, directors, executive officers and their respective affiliates beneficially owned 10.8% of our outstanding common stock and held 51.9% of the total voting power held by our shareholders. Accordingly, these shareholders currently have enough voting power to control the outcome of matters that require the approval of our shareholders. These matters include the election of our Board of Directors, the issuance of additional shares of Class B common stock, and the approval of most significant corporate transactions, including certain mergers and consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In particular, as of December 31, 2011 our two founders, Dr. Henry T. Nicholas III and Dr. Henry Samueli, beneficially owned a total of 9.7% of our outstanding common stock and held 51.5% of the total voting power held by our shareholders. Because of their significant voting stock ownership, we will not be able to engage in certain transactions, and our shareholders will not be able to effect certain actions or transactions, without the approval of one or both of these shareholders. Repurchases of shares of our Class A common stock under our share repurchase program would result in an increase in the total voting power of our co-founders, directors, executive officers and their affiliates, as well as other continuing shareholders.