London, England – 30th November 2020 – Imagination Technologies announces the sale of its Ensigma Wi-Fi development operations and Wi-Fi IP tech assets to Nordic Semiconductor (OSX: NOD), which specialises in low-power wireless communications technology.
The move will enable Imagination to focus on the world-leading graphics, vision, and AI processing technologies that represent the majority of its business. Imagination’s strategy is to align its IP to the high-growth and high-value segments that are driving semiconductor demand now and in the future.
As well as the transfer of Imagination’s Wi-Fi IP technology, a number of Imagination Technologies employees located in the U.K, Sweden, India, and Taiwan will join Nordic Semiconductor. This represents the majority of the company’s Ensigma division, although some employees focused on broadcast IP will remain with Imagination.
Nordic CTO, Svein-Egil Nielsen says: “This is a dream come true for Nordic Semiconductor and its customers, particularly in the smart home market. We will now be able to add Wi-Fi functionality to future generations of Nordic products. We feel extremely fortunate to have found the perfect Wi-Fi team with decades of state-of-the-art design experience and expertise. We believe in owning every link in our product chain, and with the Imagination Wi-Fi team on-board we will now be able to deliver to our customers Wi-Fi hardware and software that Nordic has developed from the ground up, as we do with all our other wireless product ranges.”
Imagination Technologies CEO, Simon Beresford-Wylie says: “With Imagination’s strong focus on graphics, vision, and AI processing, we have amazing alignment with the key drivers of future electronics products. In order to focus on these opportunities, we concluded that our Wi-Fi IP division will thrive much better long-term within a company that has wireless connectivity at its centre and where it will become a major focus of strategic, technological, and commercial innovation and growth. We are extremely happy to have found such a good home for the technology and the team with Nordic Semiconductor: it’s a perfect match.”
