Philips acquires silicon system solutions leader Systemonic

Our Corporate Bureau
19 December 2002

Amsterdam: Royal Philips Electronics has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Systemonic, a leading developer of complete silicon system solutions for multi-protocol, multi-band wireless local area networks (LANs).

Systemonic's 802.11a/b and g wireless LAN silicon solution is an extremely high-performance, power-efficient chipset. Systemonic has publicly demonstrated multi-band system solutions that deliver wireless streaming audio / video, data and voice in offices, homes and public “hotspots.“

Philips expects to lead the connectivity silicon solutions market with the addition of wireless audio / video streaming capabilities to create pervasive connectivity in the home, the office and “on-the-go.“ The terms of the agreement are not disclosed, and closing is expected to take place within the first quarter of 2003.

Today, 802.11 wireless technology is experiencing tremendous growth in computing and networking products for home and office. This technology will be used in virtually every consumer and business product that needs high-speed wireless connectivity to digital content.

Wireless products will include desktops, laptops, peripherals, handhelds, webpads, personal video-recording devices and digital entertainment servers. The 802.11a/b and g wireless LAN standards are expected to dominate the wireless connectivity market in the next two years. Systemonic's products, intellectual property and systems expertise will add high-speed wireless capabilities to Philips NexperiaÔ System-on-Chip solutions.

“The acquisition of Systemonic complements Philips vision of the 'connected home.“ By adding high-speed wireless connectivity to our strong portfolio of audio / video, connectivity and broadband access technologies, Philips can now integrate all of these key technologies on a single chip so consumers can easily connect to information, entertainment and services anywhere in the home,“ says Phil Pollok, senior vice-president of the emerging businesses unit, Philips Semiconductors.