Qualcomm Buys IDT's Video Smarts

Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) announced Wednesday it has acquired video assets from Integrated Device Technology Inc. (IDT) (Nasdaq: IDTI) to help the chipmaker strengthen its mobile video play. (See Qualcomm to Buy Video Assets from IDT.)

Specifically, Qualcomm is bringing over IDT's design team and assets from its Hollywood Quality Video and Frame Rate Conversion video processing product lines, with a background in high-definition TVs. Raj Talluri, VP of product management for Qualcomm's CDMA technologies group, says the merger will allow the two companies to bring IDT's video processing to Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors, creating higher-quality video on smartphones and tablets as well.

"This augments the [Snapdragon] teams we have and gives us the next level of video quality in terms of processing and getting frame rates up," Talluri says.

The companies did not disclose the terms of the all-cash deal. The boards of the companies have approved the deal and expect to close it in the coming weeks.

Why this matters
Video is one of the most popular apps on mobile devices. High-quality content is becoming especially important as device displays improve -- and grow in size -- and Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks offer more bandwidth for streaming high bit-rate content.

The acquisition is also important for Qualcomm as it looks to defend its spot inside LTE and Android smartphones. It's up against competition from Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) and a battle of constantly doubling Central Processing Units (CPUs). (See Qualcomm, Nvidia Face Off in the Core.)

For more
Read up on Qualcomm's Snapdragon ambitions below.

• Qualcomm Acquires Gesture-Recognition Assets
• Qualcomm Uplinq 2011: In Pictures
• Qualcomm's Snapdragon Spreads Its Wings
• Qualcomm Brings Games to Snapdragon
• Qualcomm Augments Android's Platform
• MWC 2011: Qualcomm Whips up Snapdragon

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile