Intel is buying Infineon’s Wireless Solutions Business (WLS) in a cash transaction valued at about $1.4 billion. The deal should close in the first quarter of 2011. This latest acquisition by Intel will help them expand their current WiFi and 4G WiMAX offerings to include Infineon’s 3G abilities and support Intel’s plans to accelerate LTE.
This comes just after Intel acquired McAfee for $7.68 billion. Similar to the earlier deal, Infineon will continue to run as a standalone business. Intel says they are commited to existing WLS customers and support for ARM-based platforms.
“The global demand for wireless solutions continues to grow at an extraordinary rate. The acquisition of Infineon’s WLS business strengthens the second pillar of our computing strategy — Internet connectivity — and enables us to offer a portfolio of products that covers the full range of wireless options from Wi-Fi and 3G to WiMAX and LTE. As more devices compute and connect to the Internet, we are committed to positioning Intel to take advantage of the growth potential in every computing segment, from laptops to handhelds and beyond.” — Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO
According to a recent report from The Linley Group, Infineon ranked fourth in cellular-baseband shipments last year with a 10.7 percent unit share. According to CNET, ” Teardown sites show that Infineon silicon plays an important role in the iPad and iPhone 4. UMB TechInsights shows two chips: an Infineon GSM/W-CDMA transceiver and a baseband processor.”
And this is a long-range plan. Intel is slated to bring out a smartphone-centric chip called Medfield by early next year that squeezes what is now two pieces of silicon into one chip, using Intel’s most advanced 32-nanometer manufacturing technology. This will be the first step. After Intel gets the Medfield application processor into smartphones, then it will progress to further integration beyond Medfield.
Infineon’s acquisition represents the second pillar of Intel’s strategy, which falls along the lines of Internet connectivity. If you recall, McAfee represented the third pillar: security. Intel is aggressively trying to get into the phone CPU market and this latest deal could put them in a position to compete against the likes of Qualcomm and ARM.
via Intel to Acquire Infineon’s Wireless Solutions Business, CNET