Intel had no comment on a report Wednesday that it is in the process of acquiring the mobile phone chip company VIA Telecom for $500 million.
The first hint of negotiations appeared in the Taipei based, Chinese language Next Magazine, according to Bloomberg News.
The magazine reported that negotiations are in final stages between Intel and VIA Technologies of Taiwan, a 50 percent owner of VIA Telecom, with an 80 percent chance of a deal being struck, Bloomberg said.
VIA Telecom referred questions to VIA Technologies, whose spokesperson could not be reached immediately.
VIA Telecom designs chips for smartphones. It and was formed by VIA Technologies after it bought LSI s WDC baseband division in 2002.
VIA Techologies, headquartered in Taipei, calls itself the foremost fabless supplier of power efficient processors based on Intel s x86 platforms in the PC, client, ultra mobile and embedded markets.
VIA Telecom has design centers in San Diego, Fremont, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Taipei, and claims to have achieve 30 percent market share in China for one of its devices.
The unconfirmed report is consistent with Intel s move into mobile. It recently invested $1.5 billion in a Chinese holding company for a 20 percent interest in smartphone company Spreadtrum. It also has an agreement to make chips for the Chinese fabless semiconductor company Rockchip.
The Santa Clara chip giant reportedly was in negotiations to buy San Jose based Altera, a San Jose logic chip company. Altera reportedly broke off negotiations when the two companies could not agree on price.
Photo: Intel
