Buried in its S-1 filing, Atheros admits that it has so much competition, that you should pause…

we compete with large semiconductor manufacturers and designers and start-up semiconductor design companies as well as large, established suppliers. Our primary competitors include Agere Systems, Inc., Broadcom Corporation, … Intel Corporation, Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Texas Instruments Incorporated. Most of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater resources and name recognition, and a larger base of customers than we do. Many of our competitors also have significant influence in the semiconductor industry.

We may not be able to compete effectively against current and potential customers, especially those with significantly greater resources and market leverage. As a result, these competitors may respond more quickly than we do to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer requirements. Moreover, our competitors may foresee the course of market developments more accurately than we can.

Furthermore, some of our competitors with multiple product lines may integrate wireless functionality into products that we do not sell or bundle their products to offer a broader product portfolio, which may make it difficult for us to gain or maintain market share. For example, Intel recently introduced its Centrino mobile technology brand and we believe Intel provides a substantial marketing development fund incentive for buyers of a combination of its microprocessor, a related chipset and an 802.11 wireless network module that uses the brand.

Many of our customers are also large, established integrated circuit suppliers. Our sales to and support of such customers may enable them to become a source of competition to us, despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights. Competition could increase pressure on us to lower our prices and lower our margins. If we do not compete successfully, we will be unable to gain or retain market share.

Where is the love?