Broadcom shifted VMware’s sales strategy toward the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) bundle, which many small and medium-sized businesses found unaffordable. Sales representatives reportedly pressured customers to purchase VCF by claiming that the cheaper vSphere Standard edition was no longer available.
Paul Turner, VCF’s chief product officer, acknowledged that the company focused too heavily on VCF. Broadcom now plans to release an updated version of vSphere Standard soon. Further details are expected in October at the VMware Explore conference in Frankfurt.
VMware has not updated vSphere Standard since 2022, while vSphere versions within VCF 9 were released in 2025. Broadcom’s software division reported $8,75 billion in revenue for fiscal Q3 2026, representing a 29 percent year-over-year increase.
Industry experts and former partners argue that the company faces a crisis of trust. Many SMBs have already migrated to alternatives like Nutanix, Proxmox, or Microsoft Hyper-V. Critics suggest that simple product updates are insufficient to regain market confidence after years of restrictive sales tactics.