Acquisitions
In 2000, Qualcomm acquired SnapTrack, the inventor of the assisted-GPS system for cellphones, branded as gpsOne. The Snaptrack patents describe how a cellphone can acquire a GPS signal rapidly using timing information sent from the base station. This reduces the searching time for geolocation from minutes down to roughly one second.
In October 2004, Qualcomm acquired Trigenix Ltd, a mobile user interface (UI) software development company, based in Cambridge, UK. After integrating the company, Qualcomm re-branded their interface markup language, TrigML, and its accompanying integrated development environment (IDE) as uiOne. In March 2009, Qualcomm informed their Cambridge engineering staff, mostly from the division working on uiOne, that they were going to be eliminated, and, in April that year, (after a legally required 30 day consultancy period) around 45 staff were let go. The rationale was stated as being a greater focus on deploying Flash Lite as a UI solution for Qualcomm-chipset-powered mobile phones. During 2004 Qualcomm also acquired Iridigm Corporation to form Qualcomm MEMS Technologies to develop low power reflective displays for mobile applications.
In 2005, Qualcomm acquired Elata, a pioneer in the development of over-the-air (OTA) delivery technology for wireless applications and content since 2000. This acquisition extended Qualcomm’s reach into Europe and reaffirmed its support for open wireless standards.
In 2006, Qualcomm acquired Berkana Wireless, a specialist in RF CMOS solutions founded in 2001. This acquisition helped enable Qualcomm to more quickly deliver new, highly integrated RF CMOS solutions to its CDMA2000 and WCDMA customers.
In 2006, Qualcomm acquired Qualphone, a specialist in IP-based Multimedia Subsystems (IMS)-embedded client software solutions for mobile devices and a provider of interoperability testing (IOT) services. This acquisition helped Qualcomm further accelerate the delivery of multimedia, feature-rich, 3G solutions on top of the emerging IMS and Multi Media Domain (MMD) architectures to CDMA2000® and WCDMA/UMTS markets.
In 2006, Qualcomm acquired Airgo Networks, a company specializing in 802.11 chip and MIMO technologies. This acquisition helped Qualcomm enable its device-manufacturing partners to more quickly and easily offer a wide range of compelling wireless devices.
In 2006, Qualcomm acquired RF Micro Devices (RFMD). This acquisition enhanced Qualcomm’s ability to support its device-manufacturing partners. In 2006, Qualcomm purchased Flarion Technologies. Flarion is the creator of the Flash-OFDM wireless base station, and the inventor of the "flash" beaconing method and several other innovations in OFDM communications.
In 2007, Qualcomm purchased Open Interface North America, a Bluetooth stack software provider.
In 2009, Qualcomm purchased AMD's handset division. This acquisition formed the basis for the later Adreno chips.
In 2010, Qualcomm announced acquisition of San Francisco based iSkoot Technologies Inc. Qualcomm did not disclose financial details of the acquisition.
In January 2011, Qualcomm announced acquisition of Atheros Communications Inc. for about $3.2 billion in cash, broadening its lineup of Wi-Fi networking technology. The name is now Qualcomm Atheros.
In early February 2011, Qualcomm acquired the Canadian company of Sylectus.
In June 2011, Qualcomm agreed to acquire all the assets of Rapid Bridge LLC (San Diego, California.)
In July 2011, Qualcomm acquired some assets of GestureTek. The company plans to use the gesture recognition technology in its Snapdragon processors.
In November 2011, Qualcomm acquired a substantial portfolio of assets and technology from HaloIPT. The company provides wireless charging technology for electric road vehicles.
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