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The value of patents are obviously measured by the market segment their products ...
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Maxim to acquire Phyworks for $72.5M
Mark Lapedus
9/8/2010 12:35 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Continuing on its buying spree, analog chip maker Maxim Integrated Products Inc. has acquired Phyworks Ltd. for approximately $72.5 million in cash.
The acquisition expands Maxim's portfolio in the optical networking front. Phyworks’ transceivers and transimpedance amplifiers span the entire spectrum of data rates, from 1- through to 10-Gbps. Founded in 2001, Phyworks is a fabless company, based in Bristol, U.K.
In a statement, Maxim CEO Tunc Doluca said: "Business and consumer appetite for access to information anywhere, anytime, will continue to grow exponentially. The backbone to support the increased data traffic is high-speed optical networks. Additionally, optical networks are now beginning to reach consumers directly with fiber to the home. The addition of Phyworks' product portfolio and talent to Maxim strengthens our market position to capitalize on this growth."
Maxim has been on a buying spree. In 2008, Maxim entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mobilygen Inc., a developer of H.264 video compression chips.
In January of 2009, Maxim acquired Innova Card, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in the design and development of secure solutions for terminals, for an undisclosed sum.Also in 2009, Maxim acquired Zilog Inc.'s secure transaction product line. This features the Zatara 32-bit, ARM-based microcontroller family for use in payment terminals.
Last last year, analog chip maker Maxim has sold some RFID intellectual-property (IP) to Intelleflex Corp. In return, Maxim received an equity position in Intelleflex, a developer of RFID products. In total, seven engineers from Maxim will be joining Intelleflex.
Moving into a new and emerging market, Maxim recently entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Teridian Semiconductor Corp. for approximately $315 million in cash.The acquisition positions Maxim in the smart meter chip market.
Analog chip maker Maxim Integrated Products Inc. has formed a 300-mm foundry alliance with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., according to an analyst.
Maxim is qualifing a 180-nm BCD process within Powerchip's 300-mm fab, according to Needham & Co. LLC., in a report.
Maxim (Sunnyvale, Calif.) recently reported record sales of $566 million for the quarter ended June 26, up 11 percent compared with the previous quarter and up 43 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. The company posted a net income in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of $58.5 million, or 19 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $33.9 million in the prior quarter and a net income of $8 million in the year ago quarter.
Maxim's net income for the quarter was weighed down by pre-tax and tax-related expenses including a $33.2 million tax provision for international restructuring, the company said.Consensus analyst expectations had called for Maxim to report sales of $561 million, according to Yahoo Finance.
The acquisition expands Maxim's portfolio in the optical networking front. Phyworks’ transceivers and transimpedance amplifiers span the entire spectrum of data rates, from 1- through to 10-Gbps. Founded in 2001, Phyworks is a fabless company, based in Bristol, U.K.
In a statement, Maxim CEO Tunc Doluca said: "Business and consumer appetite for access to information anywhere, anytime, will continue to grow exponentially. The backbone to support the increased data traffic is high-speed optical networks. Additionally, optical networks are now beginning to reach consumers directly with fiber to the home. The addition of Phyworks' product portfolio and talent to Maxim strengthens our market position to capitalize on this growth."
Maxim has been on a buying spree. In 2008, Maxim entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mobilygen Inc., a developer of H.264 video compression chips.
In January of 2009, Maxim acquired Innova Card, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in the design and development of secure solutions for terminals, for an undisclosed sum.Also in 2009, Maxim acquired Zilog Inc.'s secure transaction product line. This features the Zatara 32-bit, ARM-based microcontroller family for use in payment terminals.
Last last year, analog chip maker Maxim has sold some RFID intellectual-property (IP) to Intelleflex Corp. In return, Maxim received an equity position in Intelleflex, a developer of RFID products. In total, seven engineers from Maxim will be joining Intelleflex.
Moving into a new and emerging market, Maxim recently entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Teridian Semiconductor Corp. for approximately $315 million in cash.The acquisition positions Maxim in the smart meter chip market.
Analog chip maker Maxim Integrated Products Inc. has formed a 300-mm foundry alliance with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., according to an analyst.
Maxim is qualifing a 180-nm BCD process within Powerchip's 300-mm fab, according to Needham & Co. LLC., in a report.
Maxim (Sunnyvale, Calif.) recently reported record sales of $566 million for the quarter ended June 26, up 11 percent compared with the previous quarter and up 43 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. The company posted a net income in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of $58.5 million, or 19 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $33.9 million in the prior quarter and a net income of $8 million in the year ago quarter.
Maxim's net income for the quarter was weighed down by pre-tax and tax-related expenses including a $33.2 million tax provision for international restructuring, the company said.Consensus analyst expectations had called for Maxim to report sales of $561 million, according to Yahoo Finance.
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elctrnx_lyf
9/8/2010 2:28 PM EDT
That is really a buying spree. So many acquisitions with in couple of years is a great activity by any company. Started mainly as mixed signal semiconductor company now the Maxim has true potential to be one of the leading semiconductor company due to their versatile chips in different applications. The acquisition of Phyworks will put Maxim in a real good position to serve the fiber optic telecommunication market which is still evolving because of the consumer premises equipments developed to serve the needs of the FTTH.
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JKaplanIP
9/8/2010 5:07 PM EDT
To all those who think the patent system isn't working for small companies in the electronics field, these acquisitions would seem to indicate otherwise. Phyworks has just 3 issued US patents and 7 published US patent applications. If we assume that half the $72M purchase price is due to these 10 items of IP, that means each patent/patent application provided an extra $3.6M to the founders and early investors. Teridian Semiconductor has just 7 issued US patents. Assuming half the $315M in cash is due to these patents, that means each provided an extra $78.5M to founders and early investors. Mobilygen has 4 issued patents and 5 published applications, but the amount the company was acquired for is not disclosed.
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cbjldoqkxlp
9/8/2010 11:13 PM EDT
Dude,
By your logic, the fewer patents a company has, the more valuable each patent is. That's an odd way to justify the value of patents.
c
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docdivakar
9/27/2010 5:48 PM EDT
The value of patents are obviously measured by the market segment their products are positioned for. It is therefore not uniform valuation and is strictly dependent on the existing/potential market capture.
Regarding Maxim's acquisition of PhyWorks, it makes sense since Maxim has some products in the high speed serial communication market but lacks uptodate features that PhyWorks provides. PHY2060 and 2210 are couple of examples that come to mind (equalizing receivers and pre-emphasis drivers at 10Gbps).
Dr. MP Divakar
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