Good Vs. Bad Acquisitions


M&A activity is beginning to heat up across the semiconductor industry, fueled by high market caps, low interest rates, and a slew of startups with innovative technology and limited market reach. Some of these deals are gigantic, such as the pending acquisition of Arm by Nvidia, and the proposed purchase of Maxim Integrated by Analog Devices. Others are more modest, such as Arteris IP's ... » read more

Deals That Change The Chip Industry


Nvidia's pending $40 billion acquisition of Arm is expected to have a big impact on the chip world, but it will take years before the effects of this deal are fully understood. More such deals are expected over the next couple of years due to several factors — there is a fresh supply of startups with innovative technology, interest rates are low, and market caps and stock prices of buyers ... » read more

The Next Wave Of Consolidation


End markets and technologies are changing, stock prices are up, and interest rates are down. Those are the necessary ingredients for acquisition binging. So why isn't much happening? The answer is that more industry consolidation is ahead, but it's all happening more slowly than the economics would suggest. Some of the reasons are obvious, others less so. The big delay is the COVID-19 pa... » read more

Nvidia To Buy Arm For $40B


Nvidia inked a deal with Softbank to buy Arm for $40 billion, combining the No. 1 AI/ML GPU maker with the No. 1 processor IP company. Assuming the deal wins regulatory approval, the combination of these two companies will create a powerhouse in the AI/ML world. Nvidia's GPUs are the go-to platform for training algorithms, while Arm has a broad portfolio of AI/ML processor cores. Arm also ha... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


M&A Goodix acquired Dream Chip Technologies. Shenzhen-based Goodix is known for fingerprint and other biometric sensors and authentication solutions, as well as Arm and RISC-V based MCUs. It is reportedly among the ten largest Chinese chipmakers, according to EqualOcean. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Garbsen, Germany, Dream Chip Technologies originally was founded in ... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Siemens will acquire Avatar Integrated Systems. The company's place-and-route tools, which will become part of Mentor's Xcelerator portfolio, include a netlist-to-GDS full-function block-level physical implementation tool and a complete top-level prototyping, floor-planning and chip assembly tool. Based in Santa Clara, CA, Avatar was formed in 2017 from the acquired assets of ATopTech. ATopTech... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Galaxy Semiconductor re-established with the planned acquisition of the Quantix Business assets from Mentor, a Siemens business. The software products Galaxy is acquiring focus on yield optimization, device characterization, and reliability improvement. Galaxy was initially founded in 1998; the Galway, Ireland-based company was then acquired by Mentor Graphics in 2016. The re-established compan... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Synopsys acquired Qualtera, a provider of big data analytics for semiconductor test and manufacturing. Based in Montpellier, France and founded in 2010, Qualtera's Silicondash platform provides both off-line and in-line modules for data analytics, visualization, simulation, and modeling to allow for development of control strategies. Combined with Synopsys' TestMAX test automation solution, the... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


MaxLinear will acquire Intel's Home Gateway Platform Division. MaxLinear, a provider of RF, analog, and mixed-signal ICs, will buy the Home Gateway Platform Division for an all-cash, asset transaction valued at $150 million. The division comprises Wi-Fi Access Points, Ethernet and Home Gateway SoC products deployed across operator and retail markets. The deal is expected to close in the third q... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


M&A eSilicon will be acquired by Inphi Corporation and Synopsys. Inphi is acquiring the majority of the company, including the ASIC business and 56/112G SerDes design and related IP, for $216 million in both cash and the assumption of debt. Inphi expects to combine its DSP, TiA, Driver and SiPho products with eSilicon’s 2.5D packaging and custom silicon design capabilities for electro-optics... » read more

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