Nvidia makes $367m play for mobile specialist Icera

Move could add baseband hardware for Tegra mobile chips

Nvidia is looking to bolster its mobile hardware platform with the acquisition of mobile chip specialist Icera.

The all-cash $367m deal provides Nvidia with a 3G and 4G baseband chip business as well as some 550 patents related to mobile devices. The deal is expected to close within the next 30 days.

Icera specialises in producing the baseband chips used by mobile handsets to connect with wireless broadband networks and mobile services. Nvidia said that it will integrate the baseband processors into its Tegra smartphone processor line.

"This is a key step in Nvidia's plans to be a major player in the mobile computing revolution," said Nvidia chief executive and president Jen-Hsun Huang.

"Adding Icera's technology to Tegra gives us an outstanding platform to support the industry's best phones and tablets."

Industry analysts believe that Nvidia is looking to compete with traditional mobile chip vendors such as Qualcomm. Enderle Group principal analyst Rob Enderle told V3.co.uk that the addition of Icera will help to narrow Qualcomm's advantage in areas such as patents.

"Both vendors are trying to own this space and Qualcomm is in the lead. Nvidia wants to change that and Icera will be a big part of that once they can bundle and later integrate the related technology," he said.

"The end result, from a consumer standpoint, is likely to be improvements in battery life because Nvidia should be better able to balance power use across the system.

"The related competition with Qualcomm should drive significant improvements in this regard across both vendors' competing product lines."