Intel today announced that it will buy Germany’s Infineon’s wireless chipset division. Worth about US$1.4 billion, the deal for Infineon’s Wireless Solutions Business (WLS) will broaden Intel’s portfolio of current Wi-Fi and 4G WiMAX offerings with additional 3G capabilities and support Intel’s plans to “accelerate LTE.”
“The global demand for wireless solutions continues to grow at an extraordinary rate,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. “The acquisition of Infineon’s WLS business strengthens the second pillar of our computing strategy – Internet connectivity – and enables us to offer a portfolio of products that covers the full range of wireless options from Wi-Fi and 3G to WiMAX and LTE. As more devices compute and connect to the Internet, we are committed to positioning Intel to take advantage of the growth potential in every computing segment, from laptops to handhelds and beyond.”
Look for Infineon’s technologies to make their way into Intel’s Core processor-based laptops as well as Intel Atom processor-based devices, including smartphones, netbooks, tablets and embedded computers.
Under Intel, WLS will operate as a standalone business and will continue to provide support for ARM-based platforms.