Qualcomm is buying French firm Sequans’ 4G IoT technologies in an acquisition that includes certain employees, assets and licences.

Sequans is a designer, developer and supplier of cellular semiconductor products for massive and critical IoT markets. The addition of Sequans’ 4G IoT technologies to Qualcomm’s end-to-end IoT offerings should strengthen its industrial IoT portfolio.

Qualcomm’s IoT technologies use the real-world connected intelligent edge to offer end-to-end, ready-to-deploy options so users can digitally transform their businesses to optimise operations, monetise massive amounts of data, innovate and save money.

“Digital transformation is being driven by high-performance processing and intelligence at the edge, positioning Qualcomm for growth in one of the largest addressable opportunities,” said Nakul Duggal, group general manager at Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com). “This acquisition of Sequans’ 4G IoT technology adds to Qualcomm’s broad portfolio, further strengthening our offerings across enterprise customers of low-power solutions for reliable, optimised cellular connectivity for industrial IoT applications.”

Sequans will retain full rights to continue to use the technology commercially, via a perpetual licence agreement, supporting the company’s ability to expand its 4G business and develop its 5G portfolio.

“We are excited to announce this important transaction with Qualcomm,” said Georges Karam, CEO of Sequans. “This agreement underscores the value of our 4G IoT technology and provides us with significant capital to continue to further invest in our IoT business ambitions. We are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation and providing cutting-edge 4G and 5G semiconductors that meet the advancing needs of AI-powered internet of things applications. This transaction is expected to provide us the resources and flexibility to enhance our product offerings and expand our market presence.”

Established in 2003, Sequans (sequans.com) is headquartered in France and has offices in the USA, UK, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Finland, Taiwan and China.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including French regulatory approval.

• Taiwanese firm Advantech (www.advantech.com) is collaborating with Qualcomm on industrial Wifi 7. The first product from the collaboration is due to be released before the end of this year. The AIW-733 will use the Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 mobile connectivity system.