Analysis of Cypress Semiconductor acquisition of Broadcom wireless IoT assets

By SemiWiki

May 11, 2016

Cypress Semiconductor announced that it will acquire Broadcom’s wireless Internet of Things (IoT) business in a $550 million deal. The deal was announced on Thursday, April 28, at the same time it announced that T.J. Rodgers will step down as CEO. The deal transfers Broadcom’s Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Zigbee product lines, their associated intellectual property, WICED (Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices) branding and developer network. In a press release announcing the deal, Rodgers stated, "Cypress is a significant player in the IoT today because of our ultra-low-power PSoC programmable system-on-chip technology, but we've only been able to pair it with generic radios so far. Now we have the highly regarded Broadcom IoT business—state-of-the-art Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee RF technologies—that will transform us into a force in IoT and provide us with new market opportunities as well."

Cypress plans to move further into the consumer IoT market as well as build on its portfolio in its core business of embedded technology, including automotive and industrial applications. Broadcom will retain its smartphone, set-top box and wireless access businesses. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016.

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