Sony has agreed to buy Altair Semiconductor for USD 212 million, expanding in the LTE chip market. Based in Israel, Altair owns modem chip technology and related software for LTE. Its modem chips stand out for their low power consumption, high performance and competitive cost, Sony said.
In addition to strengthening Sony's mobile phone business, the acquisition is expected to help Sony develop in the Internet of Things market. The company said it plans to expand Altair's business and work on research and developing in new sensing technologies. By combining Sony's sensing technologies - such as GNSS and image sensors - with Altair's high-performance, low power consumption and cost-competitive modem chip technology, Sony aims to develop a new breed of cellular-connected, sensing component devices for IoT end-devices.
Sony expects to close the acquisition in early February. No material impact on financial results in the fiscal year to March is expected.
