GREENSBORO – Qorvo (Nasdaq: QRVO) has acquired NextInput, with the goal of expanding the company’s technology portfolio and accelerating deployment of mobile products and devices.
NextInput, which according to Crunchbase had raised a total of $29.2 million from 11 investors, claims it is “disrupting the Human Machine Interface (HMI) experience with turn-key touch & touchless sensing solutions.” It was 2020 Inc. 5000 company, acknowledged for its rapid growth.
Qorvo describes NextInput’s growth as resulting in shipping tens of millions of MEMS-based sensors to manufacturers in the smartphone, wearable technology, and automobile industries.
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A MEMS-sensor is a a micro-electromechanical system, and the label MEMS is used in describing the devices, like the sensors created by NextInput, as well as the processes used in manufacturing them. NextInput sensors use what is called force-sensing technology, and are made of 100 percent silicon, which the company says translates to a cost-effective sensing solution that retains high quality, reliability, and performance. One piece of marketing copy stated by the company on its website says “we eliminate physical buttons” which the company says enhances user experience and alters how manufacturers across industries can create new user interface possibilities.
“The NextInput team is a great addition to our Mobile Products business, providing MEMS-based sensors in innovative products for customers in existing and new markets,” said Eric Creviston, president of Qorvo Mobile Products in a statement. “NextInput enhances Qorvo’s technology and product leadership while opening new opportunities in next-generation human-machine interface solutions.” NextInput will become the Sensor Fusion business unit within Qorvo Mobile Products, and be led by the founder of NextInput, Ali Goughi.
According to a statement from NextInput, the company will now design sensing solutions for “the next generation of 5G smartphones and high performance True Wireless Stereo (TWS) headsets.”
The news comes during the same week that Qorvo shared fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2020 earnings results, where it announced plans for a $2 billion stock buyback, and just a few weeks after a subsidiary company, Qorvo Biotechnologies, was granted emergency use authorization and awarded a $24.4 million contract to produce a rapid COVID-19 test using its technology
