Qualcomm to acquire wireless networking firm Atheros for $3.1 billion

Qualcomm Inc, the leading wireless telecommunications technology company, yesterday said that it will acquire wireless networking firm Atheros Communications, for $3.1 billion in cash-a move that indicates its intention to dominate the chip market for smartphones and tablet computers.

This is the biggest acquisition made by San Diego-based Qualcomm in its 25-year history.

San Jose, California based, Atheros was founded in May 1998 by leading experts in radio and signal processing from Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, and private industry.

Atheros is an innovator in technologies for wireless and wired communications products and combines its wireless and networking systems expertise with high-performance radio frequency (RF), mixed signal and digital semiconductor design skills to provide highly integrated chipsets that are manufactured on low-cost, standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. 

Its portfolio includes a wide variety of connectivity solutions for wireless local area network, Mobile WLAN, Ethernet, Bluetooth, global positioning system, and powerline communications.

Its products are used by many of the world's leading networking equipment, computing and consumer device manufacturers like Apple, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, but two of its large customers are Nintendo and Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry, known as Foxconn in the global market.