CSR Bought SiRF in an All-Stock Deal

In a logic move, UK-based Bluetooth technology provider CSR locked in a merger agreement with battered GPS receiver chip maker SiRF. SiRF counts many portable navigation device makers—GARMIN, TomTom, Mio—as customers. But as these customers increasingly looked for additional suppliers with integrated solutions, SiRF’s order volume dropped, along with its stock price. In late 2007, SiRF tried to enter the mobile GPS chipset market with the acquisition of Centrality, but the plan seemed backfired and the company was unable to recover since then. During the same period of time, many larger silicon vendors began to catch up on the GPS front, including Broadcom, ST Micro, TI, Atheros, and CSR. At this year’s CES, I met CSR’s executives and was quite impressed with its Bluetooth technology. Of course, all the GPS demos were simulated as we were all in a hotel room. But CSR’s strategy to integrate multiple radio technologies onto the same circuit board is clearly hitting the sweet spot of the market. The SiRF acquisition is one additional step in that direction. Whether the deal can be considered a success or not will be first reflected in the combined entity’s ability to stop customer exodus, particularly on the mobile side.

GPS-integrated Mobile Devices to Exceed 830 Million Units Globally by 2012

Consumers Prefer PNDs over Mobile Phone Navigational Services...For Now

Worldwide shipments of GPS-integrated mobile devices will grow at an annualized rate of nearly 40% over the next five years, reaching 834 million units in 2012, according to Parks Associates’ new report GPS: A Path to New Applications on Mobile Devices.

The report looks at a variety of mobile devices, including personal navigation devices (PNDs), mobile handsets and smartphones, portable media players, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Mobile handsets and smartphones will constitute the majority of shipments up to 2012, but PNDs will remain the most widely used and preferred navigation choice in the next three years, said Harry Wang, senior analyst, Parks Associates.

GPS: A Path to New Applications on Mobile Devices features Parks Associates’ latest research on GPS-enabled mobile devices. It highlights the development and market trends for the major mobile navigation platforms and analyzes the adoption of GPS-enabled value-added content and services among hardware manufacturers and service operators and ultimately consumers.