Thursday, October 15th 2020
Cherry Acquires Vienna-Based Hardware and Software Producer Theobroma Systems
CHERRY, a leading global manufacturer of computer input devices and switches for mechanical keyboards, announced today the acquisition of Theobroma Systems Design and Consulting GmbH, an Austrian-based developer and trusted manufacturer of embedded systems. These support various industrial applications in the field of IoT and Industry 4.0. With this acquisition, CHERRY is specifically expanding its development and production capacities in the security sector.
The two companies already have a long-standing development partnership with a focus on security computer input devices. The acquisition gives CHERRY access to Theobroma Systems' comprehensive expertise in embedded Linux software development and the production facilities throughout the product development process. The newly acquired development skills will initially be used at CHERRY in the security areas. In the medium term, it is planned that CHERRY's entire portfolio will benefit from the expanded expertise. CHERRY is thus increasing its existing capacities for the development of embedded industrial systems and trustworthy IT systems. The initial focus will be on development activities, especially hardware development and engineering for Linux, Android, and RTOS (Real-time Operating Systems).
"The acquisition of Theobroma Systems is an important impulse for us in the areas of engineering and development," says Rolf Unterberger, CHERRY's Chief Executive Officer. "We see this as an important step to further expand our technology leadership for modern and secure input devices. This is also a further milestone on our expansion course, which has received a decisive boost from our new majority shareholder Argand Partners. The market is in motion, and customer expectations of our products are constantly changing. With the expanded software expertise in our own company, we are ideally positioned to meet these challenges promptly and precisely."
"Combining Theobroma Systems' technology portfolio with the resources and the strong market presence of CHERRY will allow us to finally harness the full potential of the platforms and technologies we have developed since the start of our journey," explains Dr. Philipp Tomsich, Theobroma Systems' Chief Technology Officer and Founder.
The two companies already have a long-standing development partnership with a focus on security computer input devices. The acquisition gives CHERRY access to Theobroma Systems' comprehensive expertise in embedded Linux software development and the production facilities throughout the product development process. The newly acquired development skills will initially be used at CHERRY in the security areas. In the medium term, it is planned that CHERRY's entire portfolio will benefit from the expanded expertise. CHERRY is thus increasing its existing capacities for the development of embedded industrial systems and trustworthy IT systems. The initial focus will be on development activities, especially hardware development and engineering for Linux, Android, and RTOS (Real-time Operating Systems).
"The acquisition of Theobroma Systems is an important impulse for us in the areas of engineering and development," says Rolf Unterberger, CHERRY's Chief Executive Officer. "We see this as an important step to further expand our technology leadership for modern and secure input devices. This is also a further milestone on our expansion course, which has received a decisive boost from our new majority shareholder Argand Partners. The market is in motion, and customer expectations of our products are constantly changing. With the expanded software expertise in our own company, we are ideally positioned to meet these challenges promptly and precisely."
"Combining Theobroma Systems' technology portfolio with the resources and the strong market presence of CHERRY will allow us to finally harness the full potential of the platforms and technologies we have developed since the start of our journey," explains Dr. Philipp Tomsich, Theobroma Systems' Chief Technology Officer and Founder.
5 Comments on Cherry Acquires Vienna-Based Hardware and Software Producer Theobroma Systems
The company I used to work for was bought in the same fashion and was absorbed by the buying company which was owned by yet another. In short it was really bought out by the parent company by proxy with Cherry and placed under them to strenghten it's portfolio in that market.
Obviously it is to be absorbed by Cherry like ours was.