Published on 02/16/2017 | Market Sizing
• The company, a designer/manufacturer of software and equipment that markets their products to the scientific and engineering communities, continues to be a takeover target.
• The company remains a takeover target given it provides the tools to form/prove the types of technologies to become industry standards for 5G wireless network standards.
• The company is also a takeover target given that its testing devices/software are being used for testing, analysis and standard setting purposes for the industrial Internet-of-Things market.
• The company opened an industrial Internet-of-Things lab with sponsors/collaborators Analog Devices, Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel and Xilinx.
• Emerson Electric remains a possible acquirer to increase its presence in discrete automation by acquiring the company, a leader in the discrete automation market.
A couple years ago we wrote of our belief that National Instruments (NASDAQ:NATI), a designer and manufacturer of software and equipment that markets their products to the scientific and engineering communities, was a takeover target. We continue to believe that the company is a takeover target. Our steady belief that NATI remains a takeover target is due to some of the groundbreaking technological areas the company is involved in. For example, the company provides the tools to form and prove the types of technologies that eventually will get written into industry standards for a new technology such as the 5G wireless network standards. The company offers a hardware and software platform for vendors to build prototypes and conduct tests in field trials as they work toward developing 5G wireless network standards.
With large-scale commercial deployments likely to begin in 2020, analysts estimate that 5G networks will generate nearly $250 billion in annual service revenue by 2025. Due to regional, national government, mobile operator and vendor initiatives, analysts expect that over $6 Billion will be spent on 5G research and development and trial investments between 2015 and 2020. NATI is a desirable takeover target as it is at the center of the launch of the lucrative 5G wireless network market.
