Normally I’m not posting news on the financial state of Orange County and the High Tech companies that dot our landscape in Irvine and parts to the south, but two reports caught my eye:

Gateway and Broadcom

Gateway, a company that was the precursor to the “Apple Store” through their Gateway Country Retail stores finally showed a profit and is back in the black. According to AP, Gateway swung to the black after a tax break kicked in pushing them in to profitability. A net income of 8.8 million was reported, roughly 2 cents per share. Personal Computer sales still dropped 5%, giving them only a 6.6% share of the computer market, according to the Wired/AP story.

Broadcom reported a 76% drop in profit for the fourth quarter. based in Irvine, Broadcom is a major supplier of chips for cell phones and the iPod music player. Broadcom was recently involved in an investigation of it’s CEO and Executive Board after evidence arose of irregularities in its stock option grants. The drop in profit was due to a $6 million dollar charge to the company due to the investigations. Broadcom did report strong sales in chips due to the Nintendo Wii and strong sales of bluetooth handsets and bluetooth headsets.