According to foreign media reports, Apple supplier Qorvo has acquired UWB chip supplier Decawave in a transaction valued at $400 million for the acquisition of ultra-wideband wireless technology. Qorvo also spent about $100 million to acquire Custom MMIC, a maker of microwave RF communications technology.
“Having Decawave join us builds our position as an accurate and secure short-range positioning solution in emerging markets,” said Qorvo Bob Bruggeworth, President and CEO. Decawave is a Dublin-based company focused on ultra-wideband wireless Research on technology, which is a low-power but high-accuracy object positioning system. Apple introduced a dedicated UWB processor called U1 in the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Qorvo is currently a company that makes RF semiconductors that supply Apple with the chips used in the iPhone, and derives a third of its annual revenue from Apple. Apple announced it for AirDrop, but it’s expected to enable the iPhone to determine the device’s orientation and motion as well. It is speculated that UWB and U1 chips may also provide keyless access features for the rumored Apple Car. The U1 chip has caused some controversy, but Apple’s current implementation on the system is to use location data.
According to public information, Qorvo was established by the merger of RFMD and TriQuint. It is the world’s leading RF solution provider and a competitor of Skyworks. Its products mainly include filters, antenna controllers and switches. Qorvo is also highly dependent on the Chinese market, mainly providing RF Fusion modules and RF power amplifiers for Chinese brand manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi.
The Links: 2MBI150PC-140-02 MTC135-16
