US : Agilent Technologies Inc. and Wavics announced an agreement for Agilent to acquire Wavics, a Korean-based designer and manufacturer of power amplifier modules for the worldwide mobile handset market. Wavics' patented technology is expected to strengthen Agilent's leadership in power amplifiers and front-end modules, and enable customers to design smaller handsets with more features and extended talk time.

The acquisition is subject to closing conditions, and financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Wavics' patented CoolPAM power amplifier technology significantly reduces battery power consumption and allows CDMA and W-CDMA handsets to run cooler. Agilent plans to combine this new power amplifier capability with its miniature FBAR (film bulk acoustic resonator) filters to create higher-performance CDMA and W-CDMA front-end modules. This will offer handset manufacturers a significant reduction in printed circuit board space.

"Together, Agilent and Wavics can offer customers a range of highly differentiated power amplifiers that far exceed competitive solutions," said Bryan Ingram, vice president and general manager of the Wireless Semiconductor Division in Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group. "Our mutual customers will benefit by being able to design smaller, thinner clamshell handsets with more features and talk time than previously available."

"Our two companies are an excellent fit," said Don Son, president of Wavics. "Wavics can leverage Agilent's global infrastructure, technology, manufacturing and reach, while Agilent can benefit from our unique patented power amplifier technology and strong customer relationships with major Asian handset manufacturers."

Wavics, founded in 2000 and privately held, operates two locations in Korea, one in Seoul and one in Ansan. Wavics employs approximately 55 people, who will continue their employment with the company. Wavics' customers include the leading handset manufacturers in Korea, Japan, China, Germany and the United States. During 2004, Wavics had more than 90 design wins that are expected to deliver in 2005.

Agilent is a major supplier to the top 10 worldwide handset manufacturers and offers one of the broadest mobile-phone component portfolios. In addition to E-pHEMT power amplifiers and FBAR filters that save battery life and help shrink handset size, Agilent provides CMOS imaging solutions that enable camera phones, infrared transceivers for transmitting data, surface-mount LEDs that provide backlighting styling options, proximity sensors that automate the speakerphone, and ambient-light photo sensors that save battery life by controlling backlighting. No other component vendor offers all of these solutions for mobile appliances.

About Wavics

Wavics is a fabless IC company based in Seoul, Korea. The company's unique CoolPAM technology is included in a line of power amplifiers that offer tremendous power savings for mobile standards such as CDMA, W-CDMA, EDGE and W-LAN. CoolPAM is used with linear modulation schemes resulting in less drain on the battery, which translates to longer talk times and additional power to drive other mobile phones features. Wavics was founded in December 2000 by a team of experienced RF professionals with Korean, U.S. and Japanese management experience.