TDK in talks to buy US-based chip maker InvenSense

Japanese electronic parts maker TDK Corp is in talks to buy US-based chip maker InvenSense Inc, Reuters yesterday reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

TDK has offered to pay $12 per share and InvenSense shares surged by 28 per cent on the news to $10.57 in afternoon trading on Friday, giving the company a market cap of around $1 billion.

Founded in 2003 and based in San Jose, California, InvenSense designs motion tracking sensor system on chip for consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, gaming devices, optical image stabilisation, and remote controls for Smart TVs.

It makes motion sensors for Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, and gyroscopes which help smartphones calculate motion, enabling augmented reality games such as Pokemon Go.

MotionTracking is rapidly becoming a key function in every consumer electronics device as it provides a more intuitive way for consumers to interact with their electronic devices by tracking their motions in free space and delivering these motions as input commands.

InvenSense MotionTracking portfolio accurately tracks complex user motions requires the use of motion sensors such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, compasses, and pressure sensors, properly calibrating the data, and then fusing the sensor outputs into a single and accurate data stream for use by motion applications.

TDK formerly TDK Electronics Co., Ltd, is a Japanese multinational electronics company that manufactures electronic materials, electronic components, and recording and data-storage media.

TDK was founded in Tokyo in 1935 to manufacture the iron-based magnetic material ferrite, and later began to make magnetic tapes, with compact cassette tapes.

TDK used to manufacture a wide range of magnetic and optical media, including several formats of videotape and blank CD-R and recordable DVD discs until it sold its recording business to Imation in 2007.