Nvidia has significantly bolstered its mobile portfolio by acquiring the UK-based Icera for $367 million in cash.
“Icera is a leading innovator of top-performing baseband processors for 3G/4G cellular phones and tablets,” Nvidia spokesperson Hector Marinez told TG Daily in an e-mailed statement.
“[The company] has more than 550 patents granted or pending worldwide, and its high speed wireless-modem products have been approved by more than 50 carriers across the globe.”
According to Marinez, offering OEMs both the (Tegra 2) application and (Icera) baseband processors will allow mobile companies to more quickly bring their products to market.
“Nvidia will also have approximately doubled its revenue opportunity within each device,” he added.
Indeed, the market for baseband processors is one of the fastest growing segments of the technology industry, worth an estimated $15 billion a year.
Nevertheless, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang emphasized that his company would continue to collaborate with its existing baseband partners, while “respecting” customer preferences in combining both processors.
