Cypress buys Broadcom's ₹3,716 crore IoT business

Last Thursday (April 28) saw the announcement of Cypress Semiconductors' plan to acquire Broadcom Corp.'s Wireless Internet of Things (IoT) business for ₹3,716 crore ($550 million). Under the terms of the definitive agreement, the deal entails Cypress' acquisition of Broadcom's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee IoT product lines, along with its intellectual property. The deal also includes Broadcom's WICED brand and developer ecosystem.

Cypress President and CEO T.J. Rodgers, who announced Thursday he would step down from the top job at the chip vendor he founded 34 years ago,said through a statement that the combination of Cypress's PSoC system-on-chip technology and Broadcom's IoT business would make Cypress a force in IoT and open up new markets for the company.

"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," Rodgers said.

Cypress said the deal would strengthen its position in embedded markets including automotive and industrial and make the company a leader in the consumer IoT market, which is expected to grow rapidly in coming years.

Broadcom's IoT business unit employs 430 people and generated ₹1,277 crore ($189 million) in revenue over the past 12 months.

"With our IoT connectivity products, Cypress will be able to provide the connectivity; the MCU, system-on-chip, module and memory technologies; and the mature developer ecosystem that IoT designers require, creating an end-to-end portfolio of embedded solutions and a single IoT design platform," said Broadcom IoT General Manager Stephen DiFranco, in a statement.

Broadcom (Singapore) said it would continue to focus on its wireless connectivity products for the access and mobility segments that are not IoT related, including serving set-top box, wireless access, smartphone, laptop and notebook customers.

-Dylan McGrath,
EE Times