BENGALURU/SAN FRANCISCO (May 8): Chip designer Qualcomm Inc said on Monday (May 8) it would buy Israel's Autotalks Ltd that makes chips used in technology aimed at preventing vehicle crashes, as the US firm looks to deepen its automotive business.

With increasing electric vehicles and automatic features in cars, the number of chips used by automakers is surging, making the automotive market a key growth area for chipmakers.

Autotalks makes dedicated chips used in the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technology for manned and driverless vehicles to improve road safety.

"We have been investing in V2X research, development and deployment since 2017 and believe that as the automotive market matures, a standalone V2X safety architecture will be needed for enhanced road user safety, as well as smart transportation systems," Nakul Duggal, senior vice-president — automotive, Qualcomm Technologies, said in a statement.

Qualcomm had said last year that its automotive business "pipeline" had increased to US$30 billion (RM133.07 billion), up more than US$10 billion since an announcement in late July.

The company had credited the jump to its Snapdragon Digital Chassis product used by carmakers and their suppliers. The Snapdragon Digital Chassis can provide assisted and autonomous driving technology, as well as in-car infotainment and cloud connectivity.

Qualcomm on Monday said it would incorporate Autotalks' solutions into Snapdragon Digital Chassis product portfolio, but did not elaborate on the financials of the deal.

The acquisition will be made through its unit Qualcomm Technologies, Qualcomm added.