With this move, Qualcomm gains stronger competitiveness in the smartphone and tablet PC market, which increasingly requires not only voice communications, but Wi-Fi capabilities as well.
This move, which The New York Times called "a major shift" for the company, bolsters Qualcomm's competitiveness against chief rival Broadcom. Analyst Gary Mobley of Benchmark Company told BusinessWeek, "What Qualcomm would gain is having the full suite of connectivity offerings."
Full suite, indeed. Atheros is a relatively low-profile company, but it's responsible for a majority of the Wi-Fi chips built into mobile devices.
Against the backdrop of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, which will debut dozens of competitors to Apple's wildly popular iPad, the sale bodes well for Qualcomm, giving the company the ability to populate an entire tablet PC with its own processors, cellular and Wi-Fi chips.