Qualcomm has acquired the handheld technology assets of US chip-maker AMD in a US$65 million deal that the San Diego-based mobile silicon giant says will allow it to expand its graphics and multimedia offerings. The acquisition includes technology assets, intellectual property and resources that were formerly the basis of AMD’s handheld business. AMD announced last year that it was divesting the business to concentrate on core businesses. Steve Mollenkopf, executive vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, said that the acquisition would allow the firm to bring in-house certain technologies that it had been licensing for several years. Under the terms of the agreement, various design and development teams at AMD’s handheld business have been invited to join Qualcomm. The acquisition has already received regulatory approval and the two companies officially closed the deal on 19 January.

Qualcomm said that the acquisition would result in a reduction in pro forma earnings of US$0.02 per share in its current fiscal year, but would be accretive to earnings by the second half of calendar year 2010. Speaking to Reuters, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Cody Acree estimated that the AMD business could bring in revenue of around US$20 million a quarter for Qualcomm. Reuters added that Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs said yesterday that “business continued to be strong” and that he expected handset shipments to increase 25 percent this year over 2008.