rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted May 13, 2011 Will NVIDIA Drive The Mobile Computing Revolution With The Acquisition of ICERA? Source Breaking news has it that Nvidia has agreed to acquire Icera, a leading manufacturer of baseband processors for 3G and 4G mobile phones and tablets. Nvidia has paid $367 million in cash and the deal will be finalized in the next 30 days. The market for baseband processors is one of the fastest growing segments in the industry with an estimated worth of $15 billion a year and by acquiring Icera, Nvidia have positioned itself as a leading player in the mobile segment. For those of you who haven't heard of Icera, we don't blame you. The company is responsible for manufacturing the high speed wireless modems that are used in every phone. Also known as the baseband processor, this chip is the reason we are able to make phone calls and connect to the internet through Edge, 3G and even LTE (4G). Icera's baseband processors are used by all major smartphone manufacturers which puts Nvidia in a unique position in the cellular rat race. So far, Nvidia's role in the mobile segment hasn't got off to a great start with its Tegra 2 processor only found in the upcoming LG Optimus 2x and Motorola s Atrix 4G. Things are about to change now for the better for the green team as their acquisition may help them almost double their revenue through each device. All this leaves us with a lingering thought, can we expect an Nvidia branded reference phone in the future? Just like how the Nexus One and S are reference phones for Google, Nvidia could very well put together a reference phone of their own with the help of Samsung or some other OEM. For all you know, it may just work out provided Nvidia use all the right ingredients. NVIDIA Official Press Release NVIDIA Blog Post 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
digitalnirvana 646 Report post Posted May 13, 2011 Good buy makes business sense. Even if they do not launch own branded phone, they will have a virtual monopoly of the baseband processor. This might give them leverage to push more manufacturers to adopt Tegra2. More manufacturers means prices drop. Tegra2 with GeForce GPU for everyone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
