SanDisk Invests in Altair Semiconductor

SanDisk Corporation announced that the company’s venture arm, SanDisk Ventures, has invested in Altair Semiconductor, developer of high-performance, single-mode LTE chipsets.

Altair’s products bring 4G LTE Internet connectivity to tablets, netbooks, USB dongles, portable hotspots, fixed routers and modems, machine-to-machine applications and other devices.
 
SanDisk’s investments enable the company to expand the possibilities of storage by advancing technologies and trends that are shaping the way that data is captured, stored, shared and managed.

“The combination of flash storage and LTE chipset technology offers the potential to deliver untethered Internet and device-to-device connectivity to a wide range of consumer electronics, and ultimately brings us closer to making the Internet of Things (IoT) pervasive,” said Sumit Sadana, EVP and chief strategy officer, SanDisk. “Our strategic investment and collaboration with Altair will enable SanDisk to optimize our flash storage solutions for this important ecosystem and further strengthen our potential for growth in this highly dynamic market segment.“

Qualified for use by wireless carriers, Altair’s low-power and cost-efficient LTE chipset solutions enable a range of consumer and IoT devices to connect to each other as well as to the cloud. This expands the potential of connected consumer and computing applications.

Over 30 connected device manufacturers use Altair chips to power millions of end-user devices deployed commercially on 4G LTE networks around the world.
 
“SanDisk has made a name for itself both as a flash storage leader and an innovator, and we are pleased to welcome the company’s investment in Altair,” said Oded Melamed, co-founder and CEO, Altair. “SanDisk’s deep technical expertise and strong mobile and connected solution ecosystem relationships will be incredibly valuable as we continue expand our LTE market leadership.”

Terms of the investment were not disclosed.