Qualcomm announced the completion of a $65 million transaction to acquire graphics and multimedia technology assets, as well as intellectual property and resources, from AMD’s handheld business. According to Qualcomm, this will allow them to deliver more advanced products to redefine the next-generation mobile experience.

 

Qualcomm’s executive vice president Steve Mollenkopf said the acquisition will create even greater synergy as (they) seamlessly integrate the best-in-class multimedia performance AMD offers into (their) system-on-chip (SoC) products.

 

AMD on the other hand said that selling the handheld technology to Qualcom will allow them to focus more on their position as a leader in x86 computing and high-end graphics.

 

The agreement between the two will include AMD Handheld employees being transferred to Qualcomm. They will be part of teams that develop technologies to enhance mobile devices in 2D, 3D, audio/video, display and architecture fields, Qualcomm said.

 

The company also added that it expects the acquisition to be approximately $0.02 dilutive to pro forma earnings per share in fiscal 2009 and accretive to earnings by the second half of 2010.  

 

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs told Reuters that the company expects business to continue to be strong, with shipments hopefully increasing by 25 percent in 2009, compared to last year.

 

The announcement came shortly after AMD announced layoffs of approximately 9 percent of its employees. The same company also announced that the Committee on Foreign Investment has given clearance for the creation of The Foundry Company, a semiconductor manufacturing company created to address growing demand for independent, leading-edge foundry production capabilities.