Qualcomm is one of the wireless industry's undisputed titans, but it's looking to shore up a few holes in its component offerings today with the planned purchase of Atheros Communications, a company that primarily specializes in WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS chipsets. Atheros isn't exactly a startup, either: at $45 a share, Qualcomm will be shelling out roughly $3.1 billion to complete the acquisition (assuming it passes all the usual bureaucratic hurdles) of a company that's got WiFi silicon in products spanning the range from phones to PCs and every fledgling category in between. The deal's expected to close in the first half of this year; follow the break for the full press relea
