Silicon Labs doubles down on connected devices after auto chip spinoff

Silicon Laboratories Inc on Tuesday introduced new chips and software to deepen its pursuit of the internet-of-things (IoT) market after completing a spinoff of several business units earlier this year.

The Austin, Texas-based company sold off some automotive chip assets and other lines of business to Skyworks Solutions Inc for $2.75 billion to sharpen its focus on providing chips for connected devices such as smart home gadgets, smart power meters and connected industrial machines that collect data that can be analyzed to make production more efficient.

The problem Silicon Labs is trying to solve is straightforward but technologically complex: while all of those devices eventually connect to the internet, they use a bushel of shifting wireless communications standards to get there.