Does CSR’s acquisition weaken the UK’s electronics sector?
1 min read
Early in September, CSR rejected an approach from Microchip to acquire it. The company issued a terse statement saying it was 'considering its 'options'. Those options have become a bit clearer today with the news that Qualcomm is to take over the Cambridge based Bluetooth pioneer for £1.6billion ($2.5bn) in cash. Earlier estimates at the time of Microchip's rejected approach suggested the company could change hands for $3bn, so Qualcomm may have got a bit of a bargain.
CSR joins a long list of UK companies that are now under overseas ownership. The latest moves were Wolfson, acquired by Cirrus Logic, Neul by Huawei and now CSR by Qualcomm.
For the moment, Qualcomm is making encouraging noises about strengthening its presence in Cambridge. But the deal means one more UK company essentially bites the dust.
Is that important? It is if you're 'signed up' to the ESCO initiative. It believes UK brands should be building a global presence, not selling themselves.
When the Wolfson deal was announced in late April 2014, Sir Hossein Yassie, Imagination's chief executive, was telling the Future World Symposium that: "It is important for UK companies to make sure they are in the right place in the supply chain." And he suggested that 'right place' was as a fabless supplier to the consumer electronics sector. I noted at the time this was an exact description of Wolfson. It's also an exact description of CSR.
It seems that, with Wolfson, Neul and now CSR, the UK's electronics industry is the less. Perhaps it's time to start building a high wall around ARM and Imagination Technologies' offices.
