American chip designer Qualcomm (QCOM) on Tuesday disclosed it has signed a deal to acquire Italy’s Arduino, a non-profit open-source platform used by students and professionals alike to build electronic devices using a combination of hardware and software solutions.
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The agreement follows Qualcomm’s acquisition of Edge Impulse earlier this year, and Foundries.io in March 2024. While Edge Impulse allows developers to build and develop AI models locally rather than on the cloud, Foundries.io provides a cloud-native platform for the building and management of Linux-based software for Internet of Things devices.
Qualcomm’s latest acquisition of Arduino means that it will inherit the platform’s 33-million-strong developer community. However, the American company has noted that Arduino will retain its independent status.
The price of the deal was not disclosed. This is even as the acquisition remains subject to regulatory approval and other required conditions.
Qualcomm Unwraps Latest Offerings
Meanwhile, under the acquisition, Arduino has been integrated with Qualcomm’s products and technologies to empower businesses, students, and entrepreneurs “to rapidly prototype and test new solutions, with a clear path to commercialization” backed by Qualcomm.
Already, two new offerings are on the table. The first one is Arduino UNO Q, which has been described as a “dual brain” single-board computer powered by Qualcomm’s Dragonwing processor to run smart home devices and industrial machines that can see, hear, and act instantly.
To simplify the process of building, testing and deploying AI-powered devices, the company has also floated Arduino App Lab, a new platform for developers. Qualcomm said the new platform has been integrated into Edge Impulse to give developers the ability to build devices that can spot people or objects, detect anomalies, sort images, recognize background sounds, and even pick up important words.
“With our acquisitions of Foundries.io, Edge Impulse, and now Arduino, we are accelerating our vision to democratize access to our leading‑edge AI and computing products for the global developer community,” noted Nakul Duggal, a general manager at Qualcomm.
The acquisition comes at a time Qualcomm is also expanding its chip segment by adding new products to its existing lineup, including offerings targeted at the personal computer market.
Is QCOM a Good Buy Now?
Across Wall Street, Qualcomm’s shares currently have a Moderate Buy consensus rating, as seen on TipRanks. This is based on 10 Buys, seven Holds, and one Sell assigned by 18 Wall Street analysts over the past three months. Moreover, the average QCOM price target of $181.67 suggests a possible upswing of nearly 8%.
See more QCOM analyst ratings here.