Semiconductor firm Cypress has announced a $550 million acquisition of Broadcom’s Internet of Things (IoT) division. It comes on the same day Cypress CEO T.J. Rodgers revealed his intention to step down as leader of the company he founded, after 34 years in charge.
The acquisition includes Broadcom’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee IoT products and property, alongside its WICED brand and developer system. According to WSJ, the division has 430 employees worldwide and generated $189 million in revenue during 2015.
See Also: Gartner: Global IoT security spending to hit $348 million in 2016
That is the last division of Broadcom sold off, after Avago’s $37 billion acquisition of the main company in 2015. Under the deal, Broadcom will not be allowed to continue any wireless solution connected to the IoT market, but we’re not sure if that deal affects Avago.
“Cypress is a significant player in the IoT today because of our ultra-low-power programmable system-on-chip technology (PSoC), but we’ve only been able to pair it with generic radios so far. Now we have the 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,” said Rodgers. “What we bring to the party is over 30,000 customers worldwide who need advanced, ultra-low-power wireless communication but only can absorb it in the form of an easy-to-use programmable embedded system solution.”
Cypress targeting consumer, automotive and industrial sectors
Cypress wants to utilize the wireless and Bluetooth IoT services in the consumer, industrial, and automotive segments, which have seen growth of 17 percent per year.
“The robust, ready-to-scale WICED brand and developer network of module makers, value-added resellers, technology partners and ODMs who are already working with its technology will give us immediate revenue growth capability in new channels,” said Rodgers. “Cypress will continue to support and grow this network and to provide it with future generations of innovative, disruptive connected products. Cypress will also bring these new technologies to the automotive market, where we are already third worldwide in microcontrollers and memories, and where the connected car boom has just started.”
T.J. Rodgers will remain at Cypress as a director and technical manager. He said to the WSJ that he wants a weekend off and to work less hours, which is why the management change occured.
