Sony seeks buyer for Israeli chip arm in potential $300M deal
The Japanese giant eyes exit from IoT-focused R&D center after workforce cuts.
Japanese tech giant Sony is seeking a buyer for its Israeli chip operations. The company has engaged investment banks to explore a sale of its chip development activities in Israel. Industry estimates put the potential value of the deal at around $300 million for an operation that generates approximately $80 million in annual revenue.
Recently, Sony’s development center in Israel underwent significant workforce cuts, with a large number of employees receiving pre-layoff hearing notices. Before these cuts, the center employed about 400 people.
The Israeli R&D center, based in Hod Hasharon and managed by Nohik Semel, was originally established following Sony’s 2016 acquisition of Israeli chipmaker Altair for about $212 million.
The facility focuses on developing connectivity solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sensors. It specializes in designing advanced chips for low-power cellular networks used in IoT applications, emphasizing ultra-low power consumption, compact size, and robust built-in security. These chips serve a wide variety of connected devices.
The Israeli team also develops digital signal processors (DSPs) that integrate artificial intelligence directly into sensors, as well as complete modems and system-on-chip (SoC) solutions that combine a modem, application processor, power management unit, and, in some cases, GPS and iSIM (embedded SIM), all within a single chip.
