The high hopes that the internet of things (IoT) will spark an explosion in chip sales is driving a wave of acquisitions, as major embedded, RF and analog players look to fill out their portfolios and achieve the scale required for an addressable market which will be massive in numbers, and tiny in margins. The latest is the proposed $4bn merger of Cypress and Spansion, which would create a leader in some types of memory (NOR Flash and SRAM), but would also bring together complementary activities and intellectual property in embedded sectors such as automotive microcontrollers, touchscreen controllers and low power circuits for industrial automation. Another company which has hinted it is looking for IoT and ultra-low power deals is…