Sony To Pay $212 Million To Buy Israeli LTE Modem-Chips Maker Altair

Sony will pay about $212 million to buy Israeli-based chip maker Altair Semiconductor to boost its presence in the LTE components market, Sony said in a Tuesday announcement. Altair, which has a work force of about 220 and subsidiaries in the U.S., China and Taiwan, owns LTE modem chip technology and related software, Sony said. Altair’s modem chips “stand out for their low power consumption, high performance and competitive cost,” it said. LTE is expected to play “a pivotal role” in IoT interconnections, it said. Through the acquisition, Sony’s goal is to expand Altair's existing business, but also to move forward with R&D on new IoT “sensing technologies” and develop “a new breed of cellular-connected, sensing component devices,” it said. “With the markets for wearable and IoT devices expected to continue to expand, Sony aims to deliver component devices that feature both sensing and communication capabilities, as well as new LTE solutions that leverage the strengths of these component devices.”