Cypress acquires Broadcom’s wireless IoT business

California-based Cypress which delivers system solutions for automotive, industrial, home automation and appliances, consumer electronics, and medical products, has closed its previously announced acquisition of Broadcom. The transaction is valued at $550 million in an “all cash” deal with the semiconductor company Broadcom. Cypress claims to have acquired Broadcom’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee IoT product lines and intellectual property, along with its WICED brand and developer ecosystem. With this deal, Cyspress aims to reinforce its position in key markets and make its way to the high-growth consumer IoT market, a segment that includes wearable electronics and home automation solutions.

Badri Kothandaraman, Executive Vice President, Data Communications Division, Cypress said:

The world’s leading innovators across the automotive, industrial and consumer markets are looking to connect their products, and starting today with the close of this acquisition, Cypress is now an IoT leader that can offer customers the industry’s most advanced wireless radios and the ability to design products and get to market faster with the support of our WICED SDK and developer ecosystem. We are making world-class wireless radio technology used by top device manufacturers available to our broad, global customer base, adding to the versatility of our existing embedded solutions portfolio.

According to Cypress, the acquisition combines Broadcom’s wireless products and its WICED developer ecosystem with Cypress’ high-performance micro-controller, analog, memory and USB connectivity solutions. The Cypress Developer Community (CDC) and the Broadcom WICED Community will be providing access to a single developer ecosystem for MCUs, systems-on-chip, wireless connectivity, modules and memories.

Cypress states that it also holds a position in connected cars with more than a decade of delivering industry firsts, including the first Bluetooth and first Wi-Fi in vehicles. Its portfolio is the first to offer Wi-Fi-Bluetooth combinations to upgrade legacy Bluetooth audio with Internet connectivity, and it includes the first simultaneous 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz 802.11ac radios.

Stephen DiFranco, Senior Vice President, IoT Business Unit, Cypress and Former General Manager, Broadcom IoT, stated:

When it comes to supporting customers in the fast-growing IoT market, there is no one-size-fits-all approach; you need a scalable platform that allows for innovation. WICED delivers a uniquely scalable ecosystem of module makers, value-added resellers (VARs), technology partners and ODMs to developers, along with the ability to quickly customize solutions for everything from connected cars to industrial automation equipment to wearables to smart home appliances.