Qualcomm, which makes Snapdragon chips widely used in mobile devices, has agreed to buy a legendary Israeli chip maker called Autotalks and according to TechCrunch, the deal would cost the company about $ 350 to 400 million.
Autotalks creates chip and communication technology between vehicles and everything (V2X) dedicated to enhancing road traffic safety for both conventional and unmanned vehicles. This integration clearly shows Qualcomm's desire to participate in the self-driving car market.
In its announcement, Qualcomm said that Autotalks' "independent safety solutions, dual mode, production readiness" will be integrated into the Snapdragon Digital grounding framework, a cloud-connected supporting autonomous driving technology.
Nakul duggal, Senior Vice President of Automotive at Qualcomm technologies, said in a statement: "We have invested in research, development and deployment of V2X since 2017 and believe that as the automotive market grows, we will need an independent V2X safety architecture to enhance safety for road users, as well as a smart transportation system.
We share the decades-old experience of Autotalks and are committed to building V2X products and technology, focusing on solving safety challenges for participants in the real world.
We hope to cooperate together to provide global V2X solutions to help speed up product launch time and allow the mass market to apply this very important safety technology".
For manufacturers of unmanned and assisted vehicles and systems, ensuring everyone that their technology is safe is extremely important if they want to attract customers. They may have to provide safety features that can ease people's fear of overcoming their opponents, as most people are still afraid of autonomous driving.
Qualcomm expects the auto industry to be one of its biggest sources of growth and revenue in the coming years. At last year's CES technology fair, the company revealed the Snapdragon Ride Vision platform, an "open, modular expansion" technology platform that car manufacturers can use.
And by the end of 2022, Qualcomm said its auto business system or revenue opportunity had increased to $30 billion from the $110 billion it had previously reported in its earnings report. At the time, chipmaker Snapdragon also said it estimated its auto sales would reach $4 billion by fiscal 2026.
Qualcomm has recognized the Snapdragon Digital Understanding to expand future business opportunities and the acquisition of Autotalks could further increase their customer base as well as their customer services.
