Xperi has acquired Vewd, which provides a portfolio of TV software solutions spanning a Smart TV OS to a lightweight client for upgrading legacy STBs. The acquisition establishes Xperi as both a leading independent streaming media platform (thanks to its TiVo brand) and a major independent global provider of Smart TV middleware. The deal also gives Xperi access to an approx. 15M installed device base in Europe where it can help to monetise services, and where Xperi’s TiVo+ free ad-supported TV service can be carried.
Vewd products include:
- Vewd Core, an HTML5 rendering engine for streaming devices.
- Vewd OS, a full Smart TV OS built upon Vewd Core, featuring UX, pre-packaged onboarded apps and app management.
- Vewd OpX, a platform-independent, hybrid linear/streaming solution for STBs and televisions (ready for HbbTV and ATSC 3.0)
- Vewd Atom, a lightweight client for low-cost IP connected STBs, both new and legacy (giving the ability to easily upgrade legacy devices).
Vewd Software has main offices in Norway, Sweden, Taiwan and Poland. The Vewd management team will remain in place as part of the $109M deal, and over 275 people become part of Xperi.
“Xperi’s TiVo product offerings, when integrated with Vewd’s suite of streaming platform solutions, will help accelerate and scale the deployment of TiVo OS for connected TVs and expand our video-over-broadband offerings,” says Jon Kirchner, CEO at Xperi. “Vewd’s global reach and expertise in providing support to content owners, TV OEMs, and SoC partners as they deploy middleware and OS solutions across various devices is tremendously valuable and further paves the way for additional monetisation opportunities as we expand our global footprint of streaming devices.
“The acquisition of Vewd also strengthens the growth outlook of our product business as we prepare to separate our IP and product businesses this fall. We expect incremental revenue of $10 million in the second half of this year, followed by substantially higher revenue and a positive EBITDA contribution in 2023,” Kirchner added.
Aneesh Rajaram, Vewd’s CEO, comments: “We’re excited to join the Xperi family and look forward to combining the experience, skills and scale of both organisations to deliver new innovations for our clients. Together, we’re set to deliver more engaging experiences to the millions of viewers globally who enjoy TV shows, sports, and the movies they love through our platform.”
