Intel buys assets of Via Telecom

Via Technologies, a developer of low-cost computer platforms, has announced that it had sold part of its telecommunication assets to Intel Corp. The two companies revealed no details about the deal, but it looks like Intel got various patents related to telecommunication technologies.

Via Technologies and Intel reached agreement on the deal in late July. The two companies closed the deal on the 30th of September, 2015, reports DigiTimes. Earlier this year Intel reportedly planned to acquire Via Telecom completely for around $500 million. As it appears, the chip giant decided not to buy the whole company, but bought only some of its assets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Via Telecom’s product portfolio includes one low-end quad-core ARM Cortex-A7-based system-on-chip with CDMA, EVDA, GSM/GPRS/EDGE communication capabilities as well as baseband processors and modems. All of Via Telecom’s producs are designed for entry-level smartphones and tablets, which could compliment Intel’s own portfolio of Atom system-on-chip for handsets and slates. Via Telecom’s patent portfolio could help Intel to develop low-cost mobile SoCs for developing markets.

Last year Intel paid $1.5 billion for 20 per cent stake in Tsinghua Unigroup, which owns Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics. The acquisition of Via Telecom’s assets should bolster Intel’s abilities to develop low-cost solutions.

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KitGuru Says: It is completely unclear why Intel needs assets of Via Telecom. The latter develops ARM-based system-on-chips and its telecommunication technologies are hardly valuable.

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