Sony agrees to buy Israel's Altair Semiconductor, maker of LTE communication chips for IoT, for $212M
Sony to Buy Chipmaker Altair in Internet of Things Push — Sony to pay $212 million, close deal in early February — Semiconductor firm makes chips for ‘Internet of things’
Context & Ripple Effects
This is Sony's second semiconductor acquisition in under two months: weeks after paying $155 million for Toshiba's image sensor division, it is adding Altair's LTE connectivity chips for $212 million. Together they sketch a deliberate build-out of Sony's component business beyond cameras and consoles.
The deal also slots into a crowded lane: Intel bought Infineon's IoT chip unit Lantiq last year, and ARM was reported to be circling Israeli mobile security firm Sansa — making Altair one more Israeli chip firm absorbed by a foreign buyer.
First-order effects
- Altair's LTE-for-IoT chip line moves under Sony ownership, with the deal set to close in early February and Altair gaining a parent with far deeper balance-sheet reach than a standalone fabless vendor.
Second-order effects
- Sony can now pair its newly acquired image sensors with cellular connectivity, offering device makers an integrated sensing-plus-communications package that rivals Intel's post-Lantiq IoT silicon push.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — ARM-Sansa talks, Intel-Lantiq, Sony-Altair — Israel's small chip design firms keep consolidating into global acquirers' portfolios, and consumer electronics giants keep buying components businesses to hedge against slowing device sales.
The trend: Consumer electronics giants are acquiring small Israeli and IoT-focused chipmakers to convert themselves from device sellers into component suppliers.