INTEL-igent RF

Intel has announced that it has purchased Zarlink's RF business for $60M. This is just the most recent in a continuous stream of investments by the computing giant and worlds largest semiconductor company into communications companies.

Intel has bought numerous communications companies in the past, including their initial investment in Level One, followed by purchases of Giga, Mobilian, Xircom, DSP Communications, VTG, Ziatech, Lightlogic, nSerial, Cognet and others. Intel Capital may be the major investor in this sector!

Interestingly enough, Intel bought Zarlink's RF products for roughly 1x sales ($60M for $53M in revenue), indicating either a motivated seller and/or small profit margins. Zarlink, in turn, purchased a large portion of their RF business from GEC Plessey. Is this just the newest high-tech version of musical chairs.

It's clear that Intel is thinking "out of the box" and has been for some time. Is it just a matter of time before every cellphone has a sticker saying Intel Inside?