The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to launch an in-depth investigation into Qualcomm’s acquisition of Israeli auto chip maker Autotalks on Wednesday, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
In May, Qualcomm said it would buy Israel’s Autotalks, a maker of chips for crash-avoidance technology for cars, but did not disclose terms of the deal.
Autotalks, which produces specialized chips for V2X communication technology for manned and driverless cars, will help Qualcomm expand its car-related business.
Last week, EU regulators also said the U.S. chipmaker must seek EU antitrust approval for the planned acquisition.
The EU’s competition watchdog said 15 EU countries including France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden had asked it to review the deal.
Qualcomm, Autotalks and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In early August, Qualcomm forecast fourth-quarter sales that fell short of market expectations, as consumer spending on gadgets such as smartphones remained weak amid slowing global economic growth.
The U.S. chipmaker said Autotalk’s technology will be incorporated into its assisted and autonomous driving product called the Snapdragon Digital Chassis.
Qualcomm said last September that its auto business “pipeline”, or potential future orders, had risen by more than $10 billion (about Rs 8,210 crore) to $30 billion (about Rs 2,461 billion) since its third-quarter results. The plan was announced in late July as automakers increasingly equip vehicles with driver assistance systems.
The company credits the leap to its Snapdragon Digital Chassis offerings and is battling Intel’s Mobileye Global and Nvidia for that market share.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
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