Qualcomm has announced its acquisition of Autotalks, an Israeli fabless chipmaker that builds semiconductor and system-on-a-chip technology for automotive safety.
Autotalks’ technology is used in sensors that help vehicles detect road hazards, such as oncoming vehicles in a driver’s blind spots. The company also communicates with other vehicles using compatible technology to improve responsiveness. Qualcomm will pay around $350-$400 million for the startup.
The V2X (vehicle-to-everything) connectivity technology from Autotalks will be included in Qualcomm’s mobility-focused Snapdragon Digital Chassis lineup. Autotalks was founded in 2009 and has acquired $110 million from several strategic investors like Samsung, Hyundai, and Toyota and financial backers like Gemini Israel and Magma Venture Partners.
Qualcomm has gained interesting momentum in its automotive business, with customers including VW, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, Honda, and Stellantis. Although that is more of a long-term vision than a concrete concept, the company asserted a $30 billion “design-win pipeline” in the automobile sector in September 2020. Automotive sales for its QCT segment, the main CDMA business that includes mobile and wireless chips and related technologies, was $975 million in FY21 and $1.3 billion in FY22.
Acquiring Autotalks is a logical next step for Qualcomm, as safety has become one of the most important issues in advanced automotive technology. It is one of the most profitable potentials for developing driverless and autonomous systems. Regardless of the longer development times for completely autonomous systems, it becomes the major feature and solution that customers are most likely to utilise and one that automakers are most likely to invest in when building future car models.
