Infineon Acquires Merus Audio

Infineon Technologies inks an acquisition deal with Merus Audio. Established in 2010, Merus Audio is a Copenhagen-based start-up which creates energy-efficient integrated audio amplifier solutions.

The merger of Merus Audio is sought to enhance Infineon’s comprehensive and leading-edge Class-D Audio amplifier portfolio addressing the most demanding applications.

The technology complements Infineon’s existing PowIRAudio product line for power levels below ~70 Watt.

“The move strengthens our ability to offer customers fully integrated system solutions for smart speakers”, said Andreas Urschitz, Division President of Power Management & Multimarket at Infineon. “Merus Audio’s innovative audio amplifier technology very well complements Infineon’s existing sensor and audio processing expertise.”

The fast growing segment of battery-powered smart speakers will benefit especially from the patented technology, which combines extended playback time and smaller designs with improved audio performance. This will be beneficial for smart speaker users who will find the quality of sound enhanced as listening to music has become more popular with these devices. Being based on the so called cascading converter technology, the Merus Audio solution allows to reduce the total harmonic distortion and noise.

In line with Infineon’s strategic approach “From Product to System”, Merus Audio technology adds another piece to Infineon’s expertise in Human-Machine Interaction (HMI). Today, Infineon’s capabilities enable for instance, more accurate speech recognition building upon Infineon’s sensor fusion expertise and using radar and silicon microphone technology.

The start-up will be fully engaged into Infineon’s existing audio business and also becomes part of the Power Management & Multimarket Division. Both companies have agreed not to disclose the financial details of the transaction.