Tuesday, January 7, 2003

Philips and Accton Merge Wireless Activities into New Joint Venture

Royal Philips Electronics and Accton Technology of Taiwan merged their respective wireless connectivity module activities into a new joint venture company. The new venture will provide wireless technology based on Wi-Fi (802.11), Bluetooth and other standards to OEMs in the consumer electronics, enterprise, PC and mobile phone industries. Products will include a full line of access points and gateways including a Powerline Communication/802.11b bridge, worldwide-approved 802.11a/b/g solutions, emerging consumer applications like the recently launched Home Wireless A/V Platform and Bluetooth data and audio modules. The new company will be based in Hsinchu, Taiwan and manufacturing will remain in Asia. Philips and Accton will have approximately equal stakes in the joint venture and share the board seats. The management team will consist of key Accton and Philips managers.
http://www.philips.com
http://www.accton.com

  • In December 2002, Royal Philips Electronics agreed to acquire Systemonic, a privately-held developer of 802.11a/b and g wireless LAN silicon based in Dresden, Germany. Financial terms were not disclosed. Systemonic provides technology for a two-chip 802.11a/b and g solution. It claims its design offers better range of up to 70 meters, higher throughput of up to 72 Mbps, and lower power usage than most other products currently available.