MaxLinear seems to have that kind of acquisition knack which turns an also-ran into a jewel. It has just completed its successful integration of Entropic, the specialist in MoCA (Multimedia over Coax) connectivity silicon, and now it has turned its attention to 5G futures, by buying a piece of Broadcom. By contrast, Broadcom, now part of Avago (which has taken its acquisition’s name) seems to be hell bent on getting rid of distractions and focusing on scale – or saving up for the day when it can make bids for larger companies such as FPGA maker Xilinx, which Broadcom was thought to be hunting just before Avago snapped it up. Post-acquisition, Broadcom sold off its low margin, low volume, but…