Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony has made a bid to acquire Israel-based chipmaker Altair Semiconductor in a deal valued at about $212 million.
This acquisition follows Sony’s recent bid to Toshiba’s image sensor business back in December of last year. Altair makes chipsets for Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G, which, according to Sony is widely expected to play a crucial role in the interconnection of the Internet of Things (IoT). As more devices become Internet-equipped with cellular chipsets, these devices can reliably and securely access network services that leverage the power of cloud computing, Sony says.
Sony says its aim is to not just expand the existing business of Altair but also move forward with research on and development of new sensing technologies. Sony says it will combine its sensing technologies including its global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and image sensors with Altair’s high-performance and low power consumption modem chip technology. Sony says this will allow for a new breed for cellular-connected, sensing component devices.
