Intel today announced a $1.4 billion acquisition of Infineon Technologies AG’s wireless unit. Infineon’s Wireless Solutions (WLS) business provides baseband processors, radio-frequency transceivers, and power management integrated circuits (ICs) for wireless devices.
It comes less than two weeks after Intel announced it would buy McAfee for $7.68 billion. The Infineon buy, however, is a hardware deal. Infineon’s unit makes chips for Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Android-based Galaxy S phones.
Infineon is Europe’s second largest maker of semiconductors. The unit, officially known as Infineon’s Wireless Solutions Business, will go to Intel in an all-cash deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.
According to a statement from Intel, it will operate as a stand-alone business and its technology will be used in Intel’s Core processor-based laptops and various Atom processor-based devices, including smartphones and netbooks.
“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,” Otellini added.
