Silicon Labs acquires Sigma Designs' Z-Wave Business

AUSTIN, Texas—Silicon Labs announced this week the completed acquisition of Sigma Designs' Z-Wave business for $240 million in an all-cash transaction.

“With Z-Wave now being a part of Silicon Labs we have really created an IoT powerhouse,” Raoul Wijgergangs, VP/GM of the Z-Wave Business in Silicon Labs, told Security Systems News. “Every short-range IoT technology is now combined into one company, so I believe that any company that is looking to do something with low-power and short range IoT solutions is going to be knocking on the door of Silicon Labs.”

He noted that the entire Z-Wave business unit, including a team of approximately 110 employees, is joining Silicon Labs. “The two company cultures are so closely aligned that this really is a great fit for both parties involved. There is a lot of excitement for both companies.”

Wijgergangs said that by combining Z-Wave's mesh technology and product interoperability focus with Silicon Labs' multiprotocol expertise gives smart home developers access to a large, varied network of ecosystems and to a full range of end-node technology options that open the door to millions of potential smart home users. He also noted that the strategic acquisition complements Silicon Labs' comprehensive wireless hardware and software portfolio for the smart home, which today includes Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread, Bluetooth and proprietary protocols.

“Adding Z-Wave to Silicon Labs' extensive IoT connectivity portfolio allows us to deliver a unified vision for the wireless technologies underpinning the smart home market,” Tyson Tuttle, CEO of Silicon Labs, said in the announcement. “A secure, interoperable customer experience is at the heart of how smart home products are designed, deployed and managed. Our smart home vision is one where multiple technologies work securely together, where any device using any of our connectivity options easily joins the home network, and where security updates and feature upgrades occur automatically.”

Z-Wave has more than 2,400 certified, interoperable Z-Wave devices that are available from the thriving Z-Wave Alliance of more than 700 manufacturers and service providers worldwide, according to Wijgergangs.

“Together, Silicon Labs and the Z-Wave Alliance and its ecosystems will continue to advance the Z-Wave technology roadmap, delivering innovations that engage millions of smart home product users,” Wijgergangs said in the announcement. “Z-Wave is a proven, broadly deployed technology that just reached the milestone of 100 million devices in the market. The acquisition will drive collaboration and expand access to a diverse ecosystem network of partners including Amazon, Alarm.com, ADT, Samsung SmartThings, Yale, Vivint, Google Home and Comcast.”

He told SSN that the companies are beginning to build a strategy for the future, one based on a shared vision of IoT for the smart home where devices work seamlessly together, are super secure and very easy to use.

Silicon Labs is a leading provider of silicon, software and solutions for a smarter, more connected world. Silicon Labs expects the acquisition to be accretive to 2018 non-GAAP earnings.