Formerly a division of the semiconductor firm Royal Philips Electronics, NXP was established as an independent company in 2006.
[2] The merger was intended to combine their wireless operations in 2G, 2.5G, 3G, multimedia, connectivity and future wireless technologies, with both businesses contributing significant portfolios of communication and multimedia patents.
In August 2008, another 50/50 joint-venture was formed between ST-NXP Wireless and Ericsson, and in February 2009, STMicroelectronics purchased NXP's stake in the ST-NXP joint venture, resulting in the formation of ST-Ericsson.
[3] Being intentionally mobile-focused, key products of ST-NXP included the Nomadik smartphone SoC platform, which was inherited from STMicroelectronics in the merger.
[4] For example, the Nomadik STn8820 was announced in February 2008, and featured an ARM11 processor, combined with an ATI Imageon Z460 3D graphics accelerator.