The GPS component market has been marked by much acquisition activity in summer 2007, with expectations for more acquisitions in the near future. The main reason for this seems to lie with the fact that the GPS market itself is really starting to ramp up, especially in the market segments of portable navigation devices (PNDs), cellular handsets and in other portable consumer electronics devices. Large chipset vendors want to be able to offer in-house GPS as part of their cellular handset and/or portable CE device platforms. At the same time, GPS-chipset specific companies are looking to be able to provide more powerful and enhanced GPS platform solutions, rather than just standalone GPS chipsets.
Broadcom’s Acquisition of Global Locate
Two major acquisitions occurred in summer 2007. First, Broadcom acquired Global Locate. Broadcom expects to pay approximately $146 million net in cash at closing in exchange for all outstanding shares of capital stock and other rights of Global Locate. Global Locate has been focusing on GPS chipset and software solutions for the cellular handset market segment since its inception in 2000. With Global Locate now a part of Broadcom’s wireless division, Broadcom is now a provider of four major wireless technologies that are increasingly being added to mobile handsets: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, FM radio and GPS. This greatly strengthens its cellular handset platform offerings. Broadcom also acquired home-grown A-GPS technology with Global Locate, allowing for Broadcom to utilize A-GPS technology without worrying about any third party licensing issues. The acquisition also includes Global Locate’s World Wide Reference Network (WWRN), which provides for real time A-GPS data as well as Long-Term Orbit (LTO) solutions to provide assistance even when a network connection is not available. Several carriers have adopted Global Locate’s A-GPS server solution to provide location based services.
SiRF’s Acquisition of Centrality Communications
Secondly, SiRF acquired Centrality Communications. Under the terms of the agreement, SiRF acquired all the outstanding shares of Centrality capital stock in exchange for approximately 8.1 million shares of SiRF’s common stock, which includes common stock underlying assumed equity awards, and $110 million in cash. SiRF is currently the recognized leader in the PND segment of the GPS chipset market. Centrality brings SiRF a line of powerful SoC processor solutions that feature ARM cores, high-speed DSPs, and hardware GPS accelerators. The acquisition will enable SiRF to offer enhanced GPS platforms, rather than just standalone GPS chipsets, that will ultimately enable their customers to get to market faster with their GPS products.
Acquisition Expectations
NXP is admittedly looking to possibly acquire a company that could help it complete its GPS chipset solution; the company wants to be able to offer an in-house GPS solution within its cellular platform as well as within its portable media player platform. There are expectations that Marvell is also shopping around for a GPS chipset company, to allow it to be able to offer a more complete cellular platform solution. Currently, Marvell is lagging Broadcom and TI without having an in-house GPS solution. And, with Marvell really aggressively pushing its XScale cellular solutions (which have gained much recognition in their powering of Apple iPhones), a move to get into the GPS chipset market would make sense.
For more information on the Portable GPS IC Market, please see In-Stat’s upcoming report on this topic, to be available in October within In-Stat’s Cellular & Wireless Broadband Technologies Service.
The 2006 image sensor market saw strong growth, due primarily to the market for camera phones, which have come to dominate image sensor applications like no other application ever has. In 2006, image sensors for camera phones comprised over three-quarters of all image sensors shipped. This trend accelerated in 2006 due to the emergence of dual-camera phones, which include a second, lower-resolution, inward-facing camera to facilitate two-way visual communication. Dual-camera phones are in high demand among 3G wireless subscribers in Asia and Europe. The vast majority of camera phones use CMOS sensors, with a few high-end phones using CCDs.
CMOS is beginning to move into traditionally strong markets for CCDs. The second largest application for image sensors in 2006 was digital still cameras. CCDs continued to dominate the larger point-and-shoot segment of this market. However, the rapidly growing digital single lens reflex (DSLR) market has been transitioning to CMOS sensors, led by Canon, which exclusively uses its own CMOS sensors in this segment. The question becomes, when will CMOS sensors debut in the point-and-shoot segment? The camcorder market, another historically strong market for CCDs, has seen CMOS sensors hit the high-end of the market in high-definition (HD) camcorder models from both Sony and Canon.
Emerging markets in 2006 included embedded cameras in PCs, a trend that has been led by Apple. The market for cameras in LCD monitors seems set to emerge over the next one to tow years. Automotive cameras continued to emerge in 2006, particularly rear view cameras in high-end sedans, minivans, and sport utility vehicles. Automotive cameras that provide additional capabilities in the car, including blind spot detection, lane departure warning, and airbag deployment, have been slower to emerge.
The market for linear image sensors has slowed over the past two years, the victim of slow or declining growth in applications such as scanners, fax machines, and digital copiers. The multi-function peripheral (MFPs) market continues to expand however, and emerging applications in consumer appliances and toys promise future growth for this image sensor segment. Overall, image sensor shipments are expected to grow at an annual rate of 13.6% from 2006 – 2011.
Way back in March 2005, TiVo, announced an agreement with Comcast that would enable the cable TV operator in the US to market and use TiVo-branded Personal Video Recorder (PVR) products. At that time, the announcement was framed by TiVo as being a key strategic initiative that would shape the future of the company.
Fast forward to September 2007, and we’re still waiting. According to a recent TiVo statement, the two companies will “commence the TiVo rollout process shortly” in Comcast’s New England division, which includes the metro Boston area and most of Massachusetts.
When the two companies first announced plans to integrate TiVo’s PVR software into Comcast’s set top box products, they noted that the deployment would take place “in a majority of Comcast markets in mid-to-late 2006.” Those deployment dates obviously never happened. In fact, the first small-scale product tests didn’t even begin until December 2006.
So what exactly is going here? The answer, of course, depends on who you ask.
Sources at Comcast say they’re simply waiting until the products are truly ready before they roll them out. They also point out that the company has invested millions of dollars in the TiVo partnership and remains committed to the agreement. Meanwhile, people at TiVo, who have been a bit guilty of over-hyping this agreement in the past, are now saying as little as possible about the whole thing.
Even though the deployment is behind schedule, In-Stat believes that it will eventually occur. The agreement with Comcast remains an important initiative for TiVo, which is still struggling to grow its revenues and regain some of its momentum that was lost when DirecTV stopped marketing its TiVo-branded PVR service in late 2005. In addition to its agreement with Comcast, TiVo also has an agreement with Cox Communications to deploy TiVo-enabled cable set top boxes before the end of 2007.
