While Entropic Communications continues to encounterrough seas due a confluence of factors, another chipmaker, MaxLinear, posted record second quarter revenues Thursday while predicting a solid third quarter as it rides a wave of growth tied to DOCSIS 3.0 modems, server gateways, hybrid TVs and set-top boxes.
MaxLinear posted second quarter revenues of $29.8 million, up 22% year-on-year and the high end of earlier guidance. It’s predicting growth in the cable and terrestrial markets to generate third quarter revenues of 31 million to $32 million. Despite a second quarter net loss of $2.9 million, or 9 cents per share, the positive blend of past and anticipated revenues caused MaxLinear stock to spike $1.30 (19.37%) Friday, closing at $8.01 each.
On the earnings call, MaxLinear CEO Kishore Seendripu said the vendor’s cable-related revenue rose 8% versus the first quarter, seeing growth in both cable data and traditional video set-top box apps, and stronger double-digit growth from its video server gateway apps. In all, cable represented 67% of MaxLinear’s cable revenue.
That growth, however, was offset by “minor weakness” in demand for HD digital terminal adapters, a trend echoed earlier by Entropic. “Cable operators are going through a second wave of DTA deployments so they can free up more channel and upgrade them to better services,” Seendripu said.
Seendripu said volume of its full-spectrum silicon for DOCSIS 3.0 products that can bond 16 or 24 downstream channels reached “volume production” in the second quarter. Modems with 24-channel capabilities can deliver max downstream speeds of 960 Mbps in North American DOCSIS systems that use 6MHz-wide channels.
Among recent wins, Hitron is using MaxLinear’s cable front end receiver for new D3 modems and gateways that can bond 24 channels.
