CSR and SiRF combine forces for Bluetooth and GPS market leadership
SiRF is a market leader in GPS semiconductors with strong hardware, software and systems. SiRF's significant GPS and assisted GPS (A-GPS) patent portfolio complements CSR's extensive patent portfolio in eGPS. The combined strengths of SiRF and CSR will drive forward the innovation of new chips incorporating GPS and position the enlarged CSR group to be able to take a substantial share of the fast growing GPS market in mobile devices. CSR estimates the GPS attach rate to be around 20% of mobile handsets in 2008 and this is expected to double by 2012.
Bluetooth and GPS are two core segments of CSR's Connectivity Centre and this transaction accelerates CSR's strategy by adding a GPS solution that already has considerable traction with leading tier one customers. The two companies' complementary customer relationships also enable cross-selling of GPS and Bluetooth.
CSR's Connectivity Centre strategy exploits the high attach rates of its Bluetooth technology, integrating additional value-added technologies into its subsystem. CSR's pioneering technique and Smart Integration approach allows different technologies to share resources and improve coexistence between radios, giving excellent end user experience. SiRF's GPS technologies will enable CSR to accelerate its strategic goals for the Connectivity Centre.
Following completion of the transaction,
- SiRF shareholders will receive 0.741 of an ordinary share in CSR for each SiRF share
- SiRF shareholders will own 27% of the enlarged CSR group
- The boards of both CSR and SiRF unanimously endorse the transaction
- SiRF's Diosdado P. Banatao and Kanwar Chadha will be invited to join the CSR Board as Non-Executive Director and Executive Director respectively
- The merger is expected to complete late in the second quarter of 2009
CSR CEO Joep van Beurden commented, "Financially, strategically and commercially, this is a compelling transaction. We expect it to be significantly earnings accretive, to enhance the enlarged group's financial strength and cash position and to create new and wider revenue opportunities that neither party on its own could pursue as effectively. Strategically, this deal considerably strengthens our leadership position in the Connectivity Centre, a strategy which we believe encapsulates the way our marketplace is developing. Commercially, there is a powerful, complementary fit between the technologies, skill sets and customer relationships of both companies and the way we both see our customers' needs evolving. Together we create a group substantially better placed both to meet the challenges of today and to emerge even stronger from the current challenging market conditions. This transaction is an exciting opportunity for shareholders, employees and customers."
Information on SiRF
SiRF, inc. (NASDAQ: SIRF) develops and markets multifunction location platforms based on semiconductor and software products that are designed to enable location-awareness utilising GPS and other location technologies, enhanced by wireless connectivity and multimedia capabilities for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. Founded in 1995, SiRF is listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the ticker symbol "SIRF", and has its headquarters in San Jose, California.
SiRF's technology has been integrated into a wide range of mobile consumer devices such as automobile navigation and telematics systems, PNDs, mobile phones, mobile computers, mobile internet devices, handheld and wearable GPS recreational devices, digital cameras and camcorders, mobile gaming devices, child and pet trackers, GPS-based peripherals as well as into commercial applications such as logistics management systems, enterprise and carrier LBS servers, asset tracking devices and fleet management systems.
SiRF generated revenues of $232 million in 2008, and had gross assets of $195 million as at 27 December 2008.
More information can be found at http://www.csr.com/
More information about Bluetooth technology can be found on the SIG web site at http://www.bluetooth.com/
|
Related News
- SiRF Debuts SiRFlinkIII Combo Radio IC to Drive Next-Generation Mobile Convergence Devices
- CSR to combine high-performance, low-power Bluetooth reference designs with Freescale platforms
- SiRF Expands Horizons, Unveils First Multifunction Platform; SiRFLinkI(TM) Combines GPS With Bluetooth in a Single Chip
- picoTurbo , NewLogic and Chip Express Join Forces to Provide the First Turnkey Bluetooth ASIC Solution on the Market
- Ceva Expands its Market Share Leadership in Wireless Connectivity IP, Strengthening its Solutions for Smart Edge AI/IoT applications
Breaking News
- Frontgrade Gaisler Unveils GR716B, a New Standard in Space-Grade Microcontrollers
- Blueshift Memory launches BlueFive processor, accelerating computation by up to 50 times and saving up to 65% energy
- Eliyan Ports Industry's Highest Performing PHY to Samsung Foundry SF4X Process Node, Achieving up to 40 Gbps Bandwidth at Unprecedented Power Levels with UCIe-Compliant Chiplet Interconnect Technology
- CXL Fabless Startup Panmnesia Secures Over $60M in Series A Funding, Aiming to Lead the CXL Switch Silicon Chip and CXL IP
- Cadence Unveils Arm-Based System Chiplet
Most Popular
- Cadence Unveils Arm-Based System Chiplet
- CXL Fabless Startup Panmnesia Secures Over $60M in Series A Funding, Aiming to Lead the CXL Switch Silicon Chip and CXL IP
- Esperanto Technologies and NEC Cooperate on Initiative to Advance Next Generation RISC-V Chips and Software Solutions for HPC
- Eliyan Ports Industry's Highest Performing PHY to Samsung Foundry SF4X Process Node, Achieving up to 40 Gbps Bandwidth at Unprecedented Power Levels with UCIe-Compliant Chiplet Interconnect Technology
- Arteris Selected by GigaDevice for Development in Next-Generation Automotive SoC With Enhanced FuSa Standards
E-mail This Article | Printer-Friendly Page |