- Agere Systems
Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Agere Systems, Inc.
company_
fate = Merged intoLSI Corporation
successor =LSI Corporation
foundation = spun-off fromLucent Technologies on June 1, 2002
defunct = April 2, 2007
location =
key_people = Richard L. Clemmer, President & CEO
num_employees = ~17,000
industry = Semiconductor-Integrated Circuits
products = Integrated CircuitsAgere Systems Inc. was an
integrated circuit components company based inAllentown, Pennsylvania , in theLehigh Valley region ofPennsylvania , in theUnited States . Effective April 2, 2007, it was merged intoLSI Corporation .Agere was incorporated on August 1, 2000 as a subsidiary of
Lucent Technologies and then spun-off on June 1, 2002. The name "Agere" was that of a Texas-based electronics company that Lucent had acquired in 2000, although the pronunciations of the company names are different. The Texas company was pronounced with three syllables and a hard "g": A-gear-uh. The company name was pronounced with two syllables and a hard "g": A-gear.The company also maintained an
India office inWhitefield, India , located in the city ofBangalore , which is involved inASIC design and software development.The company also maintained an
Israel office located inRaanana . This office was based on Modem-Art a developer of advanced processor technology for3G /UMTS mobile devices which Agere has acquired in 2005.The
China offices of Agere were located atShanghai andShenzhen .Merger With LSI Logic Corporation
On December 4, 2006, LSI announced that it would acquire Agere by merger in a stock transaction valued at $4 billion. [http://www.lsilogic.com/news/corporate_news/2006_12_04.html LSI announcement] [http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=11SIQKPRUALLYQSNDLPCKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=196601219 EETimes story] .
On March 29, 2007, LSI announced that the
shareholder approval has been obtained and that the merger was proceeding. [http://www.lsilogic.com/news/corporate_news/2007/2007_03_29.html] .On April 2, 2007, LSI announced that the merger has been completed. [http://www.lsilogic.com/news/corporate_news/2007/2007_04_02.html] .
Microsoft sued for alleged theft of IP
Microsoft was sued by Agere for theft of key technology used in Internet telephony. [http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=FN4BSCCV5SL3EQSNDLQCKICCJUNN2JVN?articleID=198800210] [http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/agere-says-microsoft-lifted-voip/story.aspx?guid=%7B4333234A%2D6082%2D41F2%2D802F%2DA6FDB8E8A474%7D] [http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/bell-labs-legend-haunts-courtroom/story.aspx?guid=%7BD703805C%2D45B6%2D43B5%2DB517%2D9EA8274F9FB8%7D&dist=TQP_Mod_mktwN] The allegations concern meetings between Agere and Microsoft in 2002 and 2003, where the companies discussed selling Agere's
stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation technology to Microsoft. This technology is used to improve the sound oftelephone andteleconference communications over the Internet (ie, VOIP). Just before the agreement was to be signed, Microsoft ended the discussions saying that it made a significant breakthrough in its own, heretofore undisclosed research program, and no longer needed Agere's technology.External links
* [http://www.lsi.com/ LSI Corporation Official Web Site] .
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/102/102887.html Agere Systems profile at Yahoo!] .
* [http://www.nndb.com/company/280/000123908/ Agere Systems profile at NNDB] .
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