MaxLinear signs reseller deal with Brazil’s Zephyr Technologies

CARLSBAD, USA: MaxLinear Inc., a leading provider of integrated radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communication applications, has signed a non-exclusive distribution partnership agreement with Zephyr Technologies to provide its silicon TV tuner solutions to the Brazilian market.

MaxLinear’s full range of digital TV tuner and SOC devices is based on standard digital CMOS process technology. Using the company’s patented designs, MaxLinear's engineers have adapted CMOS to the high-performance demands of the TV tuner market, while leveraging the technology's small size, low power and low cost advantages.

Zephyr has established a strong presence in Brazil, which is estimated to be the biggest TV market in the Americas. The company has served commercial and consumer companies for more than ten years with sales and technical resources in Sao Paolo – the capital of the country’s TV industry.

The city of Sao Paulo alone has a population of over 20 million people. Zephyr offers both sourcing of semiconductors and related products, and also provides technical resources for design and implementation.

"Brazil offers tremendous opportunity because the country is experiencing huge expansion and growth. In addition, large import tax prohibitions discourage importing so it makes more economic sense to develop products within Brazil, giving manufacturers a huge financial incentive to source our solutions," said John Graham, vice president of marketing for MaxLinear.

Although, Zephyr is able to sell all MaxLinear TV tuner devices, the company’s MxL135RF device is adapted to exceed the RF performance requirements of the Brazil’s SBTVD-T digital terrestrial broadcast standards.

SBTVD-T is the technical standard for digital television broadcasting in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Bolivia. Many of these countries are now planning their transition from support for analog television broadcasts to digital-only TV broadcasts, creating a significant market opportunity.

"In Brazil, digital TV is starting to take off. This makes it a great market opportunity, because starting next year the transition to all digital broadcasting begins. By 2015 analog will be completely replaced by digital, which translates to roughly 25 million new converter boxes.

In addition, the FIFA World Cup comes to Brazil in 2014, which we have recently seen is a huge driver for digital TV adoption," said Kia Mostaghimi, director, Zephyr Technologies. "MaxLinear brings very competitive design capabilities to the table, and they offer a very cost-efficient price point, helping manufacturers to avoid the 'grey' market of chips imported illegally from China.”