Leading cable MSO (multi service operator) and media company Comcast Corp. CMCSA confirmed that it has decided to acquire certain useful assets of Icontrol Networks Inc., a major developer of Internet-of-Things (IoT) and smart-home products.
Comcast will acquire Icontrol’s Zigbee-based smart home products and the majority of its patents. These products basically consist of Icontrol’s "Converge" software platform, which is already used by Comcast’s Xfinity Home touch-screen panel and back-end servers. However, financial terms of the deal are yet to be disclosed.
Moreover, Alarm.Com Holdings Inc. ALRM, a competitor of Icontrol, will acquire a minor part of the Z-wave product portfolio together with a handful of patents and the Piper home monitoring assets that Icontrol acquired in 2014. The company will spend approximately $140 million for the deal.
Icontrol’s smart-home product platform has a strong clientele in the North American cable MSO market. Comcast itself is a major customer of Icontrol. Apart from Comcast, other significant customers include Time Warner cable, a division of Charter Communications Inc. CHTR, Roger Communications Inc. RCI and Cox Communications Inc. Small-sized cable TV operators are also gradually shifting to Icontrol’s platform.
However, in recent years, Icontrol has been facing waning demand for its products. There are two reasons for this setback. First, competition in the market has intensified and second, Comcast, its major customer has decided to develop some of the smart-home products in-house. Hence, the acquisition of the core assets of Icontrol will boost the existing product portfolio of Comcast.
On the flip side, other large cable MSOs may not want to be a client of Comcast, their major competitor in the market. Charter Communications, Rogers Communications and Cox Communications might switch to a different platform and other vendors. In this situation Alarm.Com may prove to be a suitable alternative.
Comcast currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment