Intel announced that it would purchase the biggest smart car tech firm Mobileye today. Mobileye is an Israeli based company, it produces onboard vision systems, and it develops future techs. Mobileye manufactures about 70% of vision systems for current self-driving vehicles. The Israeli company had a revenue of $358 million last year.
The Israeli company acquisition is worth $15 billion, or $63.54 per share. The deal is expected to be closed in less than a year. Mobileyes’ Headquarters will remain in Israel, and the team will be led by its current chairman, Amnon Shashua.
Previous the acquisition the two companies had worked together on several projects. Both firms also established many partnerships with automakers. Both companies partnered with BMW to develop a self-driving mode for the German company.
Mobileye has expanded over the last few years to supply important automakers
The Israeli company recently reached agreements with General Motors and Volkswagen to develop real-time mapping systems for the vehicles. Following the purchase of Mobileye, Intel will become the sole leader of self-driving technologies and processors. Mobileye is currently working with 27 major carmakers. Toyota and Tesla are the biggest exceptions.
EyeQ is Mobileye’s top product. EyeQ is the combination of a small camera (much smaller than a coin) and a processing system on a single chip. The EyeQ is expected to play a major role in self-driving cars development.
The firm also introduced the Mobile Shield Plus last year. The MSP is a set of connected cameras distributed along a truck or bus that alerts the danger if there is a risk of collision. Intel’s CEO, Brian Krzanich, praised the acquisition of Mobileye.
“The acquisition of Mobileye completes a virtuous circle of growth…eyes of the autonomous car with the intelligent brain that actually drives the car,” said Krzanich. The chipmaker firm also explained that by 2020 driverless cars will produce 4 terabytes of data per day.
Mobileye chairman, Amnon Shashua, seemed excited about working along with Intel. Mobileye expects to make an impact in the world, and working along with Intel will help significantly, explained Shashua. Intel expects the driverless market to be worth $70 billion by 2030.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for them to get into a market that has significant growth opportunities,” said Betsy Van Hees, Analyst at Loop Capital Markets. She also pointed out the little presence Intel had at the vehicle’s market.
Source: NBC
