Profile: QLogic Corp (QLGC.O)

QLogic Corporation designs and supplies network infrastructure products that provide and manage computer data communication. These products facilitate the transfer of data and enable resource sharing between servers, networks and storage. The Company’s products are used in enterprise data centers, cloud computing, Web 2.0 and other environments. The Company classifies its products into three categories: Host Products, Network Products and Silicon Products. Host Products consist of Fibre Channel adapters, iSCSI adapters, FCoE converged network adapters, and 10 gigabit Ethernet adapters. Network Products consist of blade, edge and high-port count modular-chassis Fibre Channel switches, Fibre Channel virtualized pass-through modules, universal access point switches, Enhanced Ethernet pass-through modules and storage routers. Silicon Products consist of ASICs, including Fibre Channel controllers, iSCSI controllers, converged network controllers, Ethernet controllers, converged switch controllers and cLOM controllers. On February 29, 2012, the Company completed the sale of its InfiniBand business.

Host Products accounted for 77% of the Company’s net revenues during the fiscal year ended April 1, 2012 (fiscal 2012). Network Products accounted for 13% of its net revenues for fiscal 2012. Silicon Products accounted for 10% or less of the Company’s net revenues during fiscal 2012. The Company’s products are based primarily on Fibre Channel and Ethernet technologies and are used in connection with storage networks, local area networks, and converged networks. Storage networks are used to provide data across enterprise environments. Local area networks (LANs) are used to provide workstation-to-server, server-to-server, and server-to-storage connectivity using Ethernet. Converged networks are designed to address the data center by consolidating and unifying various classes of connectivity and networks, such as storage area networks and LANs, using Ethernet speeds of 10 gigabit per second and greater. Fibre Channel over Ethernet, or FCoE, is a converged networking technology that uses an Ethernet LAN for both storage and local area data transmission. Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) is an alternative to FCoE, also providing storage over Ethernet capabilities. Its converged products can operate individually as 10 gigabit Ethernet network products, FCoE products, iSCSI products, or in combination as multi-protocol products.

The Company’s products are sold worldwide, primarily to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and distributors. Its products are found primarily in server and storage subsystem solutions that are used by small, medium and large enterprises with business data requirements. Its products primarily consist of adapters, switches, storage routers and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Adapters reside in a server and provide for connectivity of host computer servers to data and storage networks. Switches and storage routers manage the transmission and routing of data between servers and storage, as well as servers to servers. The ASICs that the Company sells are used in servers, storage systems and switches. ASICs used in servers in certain embedded applications are referred to as converged LAN on Motherboard, or cLOMs.

The Company provides Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE and 10 gigabit Ethernet standard adapters and ASICs for rack and tower servers, as well as custom mezzanine adapters and ASICs for bladed servers. Its adapters and ASICs are also used in a variety of storage systems. All of these adapters and ASICs provide multi-protocol network connectivity. The Company also provided a line of Fibre Channel switches, including its stackable switches, which use high-speed stacking ports as inter-switch links. In addition, it provides custom converged switching solutions as chassis, modules, or ASICs specific to particular OEM requirements. Its intelligent storage routers are used for bridging Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE and Ethernet technology-based networks and provide a multi-protocol server to storage data migration solution for business continuity, disaster recovery, as well as a method to migrate Fibre Channel or iSCSI-based data to cloud-based infrastructure and applications.

The Company competes with Emulex Corporation, Broadcom Corporation, Intel Corporation, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc.