Qualcomm and TDK announce joint venture valued at $3bn

Qualcomm and Japanese tech firm TDK Corporation have announced a joint venture, valued by Reuters at approximately $3 billion (£2bn).

The new company, named RF360 Holdings, will be building modules needed to communicate wirelessly with mobile devices and IoT devices. Those modules include the RF front-end (RFFE) and RF filters, the two companies said in a press release.

The agreement is subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other closing conditions and is expected to close by early 2017.

The two companies have also said that the new joint venture should provide an answer to the ever-growing problem of connectivity. With different modules, such as 2G, 3G, 4G, Bluetooth, satellite navigation and wireless LAN, a new level of miniaturization is needed, and that’s what RF360 Holdings should do.

Qualcomm will own 51 percent of the new company, while the rest will go to EPCOS AG, a subsidiary of TDK.

"TDK is a leading electronic components manufacturer with cutting-edge expertise in RF filters and modules, and we are looking forward to deepening our collaboration and together accelerating innovation and better serving the ecosystem for next-generation mobile communications", said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated.

"The joint venture’s RF filters will bolster Qualcomm RF360™ front-end solutions to enable Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI) to deliver a truly complete solution to the ecosystem. This will enable us to expand our growth opportunity by allowing us to accelerate our strategy to provide OEMs across our business segments with fully integrated systems that will enable them to deliver at scale and on an accelerated timeframe".

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