Nokia to transfer 3G modem business to Renesas for $US200m

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 09:13

IT Industry - Deals

Nokia is selling its wireless modem business to Japanese chipmaker, Renesas Electronics Corporation for $US200m along with 1,100 employees and the two will form an alliance to develop modem technologies for HSPA+/LTE and its evolution.

Nokia will also transfer patents related to these assets and approximately 1,100 Nokia R&D staff, the vast majority of whom are located in Finland, India, the UK and Denmark. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2010.

The modems have been installed in billions of Nokia handsets over many years. According to Nokia, "The alliance is planned to be enhanced by long-term joint research cooperation on future radio technologies."

According to Nokia, the transfer of its wireless modem business will enable Renesas Electronics "to maximise the value of Nokia's technology assets and engineering expertise in delivering advanced mobile platform solutions to the market by combining them with Renesas Electronics' market-proven multimedia processing and RF technologies."

Nokia EVP, Kai Oistamo, said: "Wireless modems are an integral part of today's chipset solutions, and we believe that Renesas Electronics, as one of the key chipset vendors in the market, is in an ideal position to further develop this offering. The alliance enables us to continue to focus on our own core businesses, connecting people to what matters to them with our mobile products and solutions."

Renesas Electronics has licensed the Nokia modem since 2009 and says the two companies have been working together to develop an industry-leading HSPA+/LTE platform. "I believe that the integration of the world class Nokia wireless modem into Renesas Electronics' strong multimedia processing and RF capabilities, places Renesas Electronics in a strong position in HSPA+/LTE chipsets," said Oistamo.

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