Qualcomm Buys Power Amplifier Developer Black Sand - Analyst Blog

Recently, Qualcomm Inc. QCOM acquired Black Sand Technologies, a leading fables semiconductor manufacturer. Black Sand deploys its flagship CMOS semiconductor technology to develop advanced power amplifiers for wireless applications.

The company's advanced technology combines sensitive analog and powerful digital circuits in silicon. Furthermore, Black Sand has the industry's largest patent portfolio of IP-based mixed-signal technology. However, the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Qualcomm is the largest baseband chipset developer for mobile handsets globally. The company's chips are used in Apple Inc.'s AAPL iOS software, Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT Windows Phone operating systems and Google Inc.'s GOOG Android software, especially Samsung's Galaxy series of mobile gadgets.

Integration of Black Sand's technology will strengthen quality, reliability and robustness of Qualcomm's chipset along with reduced developmental expenditures. Qualcomm currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

In Jan 2014, Qualcomm acquired a portfolio of patents from Hewlett-Packard. The portfolio comprises 1,400 granted and pending patent applications from the U.S. and about 1,000 granted and pending patent applications from other countries including China, England, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

The patent portfolio covers a wide range of technologies that include fundamental mobile operating system techniques. Acquisition of this patent portfolio will enable Qualcomm to more aggressively expand into the global mobility market.

Earlier, the acquisition of Atheros Communications transformed Qualcomm into an integrated chipset developer for the mobile computing market. Besides mobile computing, Qualcomm can now diversify into the consumer electronics segment, particularly in the home networking market. Atheros manufactures WiFi chips for televisions, video games, printers, and other home devices.