Sony Buys Altair Semiconductor for IoT Advancement

Sony Corporation has just revealed that is will purchases Altair Semiconductor for $212 million. The company expects to complete the acquisition early next month.

Isreal-based Altair owns modem chip technology and related software for LTE (Long Term Evolution), a 4G cellular standard for mobile devices, which is currently used in data communication for cellphones and is predicted to play a major role in connecting the Internet of Things.

According to Sony, more “things” are expected to come equipped with cellular chipsets to create a secure environment that leverages the power of cloud computing.

By acquiring the company, Sony will combine its own sensing technology with Altair’s low power consumption modem chip technology and hopes to expand its research and development of new sensing technology to create a new breed of cellular-connected, sensing component devices.

With the markets for wearable and IoT devices expected to continue to expand, Sony aims to deliver component devices that feature both sensing and communication capabilities, as well as new LTE solutions that leverage the strengths of these component devices.

Source: Sony Corporation