Qualcomm is reportedly set to buy Israeli chipmaker Wilocity for a deal of $300 million according to Wilocity sources quoted in the media. Qualcomm worked with Wilocity for many years to develop WiGig chipsets for devices. WiloCity’s WiGig (Wireless Gigabit), the brand name given to the more advanced 802.11ad standard by the WiFi Alliance, offers data transfer speeds of up to 7 GBs per second. Most devices use the 802.11n standard, which transfers data at a speed of between 1 and 1.3 Gbps. WiGig runs on the less crowded 5 GHz band, instead of the 2.4 GHz band that 802.11n devices use.
qualcomm
The Marker, a financial news website said that Wilocity will be bought by Qualcomm very soon this year for a price of $300 million. But the two companies are yet to agree to terms of all the provisions of the sale. There are still no comments about this news by any Wilocity officials.
Qualcomm has previously invested in Wilocity’s project for developing 60 GHz, 7 gigabit wireless chipsets that give faster Internet speeds. This technology will allow users to download high definition videos and large data at faster speeds.
The Israeli chipmaker, Wilocity was founded in 2007 by Tal Tamir, its CEO, as well as Dany Rettig, Gal Basson and Jorge Myszne. Who all worked for Intel before. Since Wilocity’s employees were told of the company’s acquisition by Qualcomm, representatives of Qualcomm have conducted rounds of interviews and it’s likely that if this news becomes true, Wilocity’s staff could be transferred to Qualcomm’s development center in Haifa.
Apart from Qualcomm, Wilocity was also attracted by semiconductor giant Marvell Technology, totaling $105 million from investors. More companies like Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Tallwood Venture Capital have invested in Wilocity previously. Leading venture capital firm Cisco, Israel’s Vintage Investment Partners, Jerusalem Global Ventures fund also invested in Wilocity’s various projects.
So, it is likely that Wilocity will soon become part of a strong Qualcomm presence in Israel.