Qualcomm to Acquire Arduino

Qualcomm plans to acquire open-source hardware and software player Arduino. The acquisition should advance the US chip company’s goal to provide a full stack of services.

Arduino is set to maintain its independence in terms of branding and tooling, meaning its backing for a wide range of microcontrollers and processors from various semiconductor makers should be maintained. Qualcomm said it is pursuing the buy to advance its standing as a provider of hardware, software, and cloud services. Arduino builds on recent integrations of Edge Impulse and Foundries.io, it explained.

Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm group GM for Automotive, Industrial, and Embedded IoT, said the shopping spree accelerates a goal to broaden access to its AI and computing products. Qualcomm predicted developers working across industries stand to benefit from the combination of its processing, graphics, computer vision, and AI technology with the simplicity, affordability, and open-source community of Arduino.

More than 33 million active Arduino users are in line to gain access to Qualcomm’s technology and global reach, though the company’s open approach and community spirit are to be preserved. The pair will base their collaboration on Arduino’s next-generation UNO Q single-board computer, which runs a Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 processor in a full Linux environment to provide AI-equipped vision and sound systems capable of being deployed in smart home or industrial automation settings.