Nvidia Giving Up on Cellular Modem Business

Nvidia became the latest casualty in the ultra-competitive cellular chip business, announcing on Tuesday that it will “wind down” its Icera modem unit.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker said it is “open to a sale of the technology or operations,” though presumably it would have looked into such options prior to announcing plans to shutter the unit.

Texas Instruments and Broadcom have exited parts of the cellular chip business in recent years, and even market leader Qualcomm faces increasing competition from both Samsung and a host of low-cost Chinese rivals.

Nvidia purchased Icera in 2011 as part of an effort to offer both modems and its Tegra processor. These days, Nvidia is less focused on phones and tablets and is instead taking aim at the video game, automotive and cloud computing markets.

The Icera unit has roughly 500 workers, mostly in France and the United Kingdom, with smaller teams in Asia and the U.S. Nvidia said it would detail the financial implications of the move when it reports earnings on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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