STMicroelectronics defies flat car infotainment chip market in 2008

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Defying a flat year for the global automotive infotainment semiconductor market, leading supplier STMicroelectronics NV managed to achieve double-digit revenue growth in 2008 due in part to the success of its Cartesio product, a combined media processor and GPS baseband chip, according to iSuppli Corp.

The global automotive infotainment semiconductor market in 2008 generated revenue of $3.4 billion, up a scant 0.6 percent from $3.3 billion in 2007. While the average amount of entertainment and informational electronics content in cars continued to increase in 2008, the infotainment industry suffered from a 6.6 percent decline in global car sales for the year. The infotainment semiconductor industry’s flat growth in 2008 contrasts sharply with its 16.8 percent expansion in 2007.

The figure presents iSuppli’s ranking of the top-5 suppliers of automotive semiconductor suppliers in 2008.Source: iSuppli Corp. May 2009

The rankings and information presented in the ranking table and this release cover the automotive infotainment application-specific semiconductor area -- comprised of ASICs, ASSPs and PLDs. Infotainment functional areas covered in iSuppli’s market-share estimates include amplifiers, digital terrestrial and satellite radios, GPS, navigation systems, multimedia processing and AM/FM tuner and baseband solutions.

STMicroelectronics stays in lead
STMicroelectronics massively outperformed the market in 2008, with its revenue rising by 12.6 percent to $439 million, up from $390 million in 2007. The company’s share of global automotive infotainment semiconductor revenue rose to 13 percent, up from 12.6 percent in 2007.

“STMicroelectronics benefited from the strong market acceptance of the Cartesio, with the company notching up several key design wins,” said Richard Robinson, principal analyst, automotive electronics, for iSuppli. “Due to the Cartesio, STMicroelectronics achieved massive growth in the multimedia/navigation segment of the infotainment chip market, with its revenue in this area revenue rising to $71 million in 2008, up a stunning 1,320 percent from $5 million in 2007.”

Looking at the major segments of the automotive infotainment semiconductor market, STMicroelectronics in 2008 held the leading position in the audio amplifier and digital/satellite radio tuner/decoder segment and was No.-2 in AM/FM tuner/audio processing and GPS navigation receiver areas.

Rankings hold steady
There were no changes in the order of the Top-5 infotainment semiconductor suppliers, with STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductor, Panasonic and Renesas maintaining their No-1 through No.-5 positions. The combined revenues of the Top-2 suppliers --- STMicroelectronics and NXP -- accounted for 25 percent of market revenue in 2008, as both companies supply a broad range of automotive-grade silicon to the infotainment market.

Other developments among the top-5 suppliers in 2008 included:
* No.-2 NXP Semiconductors held on to the second position in overall infotainment semiconductors in 2008 as the dominant supplier of AM/FM tuner and processor chips and the No.-2 maker of audio amplifiers targeted at the automotive space.

* No.-4 Renesas increased its infotainment semiconductor revenue by 10 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, maintaining its position as the No.-1 supplier of multimedia/navigation logic with a 20 percent worldwide market share.

* No.-9 Freescale Semiconductor was the biggest market mover in 2008 with its revenue up by more than 50 percent from 2007 on the back of design wins with Ford for its Sync system and on the continued growth of the OnStar solution from GM.

Magma's Titan ADX adopted by Panasonic for analog circuit optimization

SAN JOSE, USA: Magma Design Automation Inc. announced that Panasonic Corp. one of the largest providers of consumer electronics products, has adopted Magma's Titan ADX analog migration and optimization software in its production custom analog design flow.

Panasonic selected Titan ADX because it enables circuit optimization for a given process technology in a matter of hours without lengthy SPICE runs and streamlines analog design porting. With enhanced designer productivity, Panasonic can effectively reduce the time and effort required for analog design development.

"Using Titan ADX we built a methodology for circuit optimization that allows a variety of architectures to be optimized very quickly," said Dr. Shiro Dosho, a senior staff engineer at the Strategic Semiconductor Development Center of Panasonic. "Analog optimization has historically been a difficult problem due to the large number of design parameters to solve for simultaneously. Titan ADX addresses this problem by identifying the types of circuits that provide better performance -- before circuit design begins. By providing this information up front, Titan ADX enables us to avoid design iterations and helps us meet our time-to-market goals. In addition, with Titan ADX we can not only reduce area, but also minimize power consumption of large, complex analog designs. Titan ADX enables our designers to obtain optimized results over multiple process conditions in a few days -- previous approaches would have taken many weeks."

"Analog design methodologies have not kept pace with digital design. As more ICs incorporate analog components, designers demand more effective and productive analog design tools," said Anirudh Devgan, general manager of Magma's Custom Design Business Unit. "With a unique model-based approach, Titan ADX performs circuit optimization and porting in a fraction of the time required by simulation-based techniques. Panasonic's decision to deploy Titan ADX in its analog design flow highlights this tool's ability to address the challenges of analog and mixed-signal design."

Titan ADX: Streamlining analog design optimization and porting
Titan ADX, an integral part of Magma's Titan mixed-signal design platform, focuses on solving analog/mixed-signal design, optimization and porting challenges. The Titan ADX model-based approach allows circuit optimization and porting in a fraction of the time required by simulation-based techniques.

The technology enables product groups to push the design envelope for extreme performance, to center the design for multiple process, voltage and temperature (PVT) corner cases, and to reduce power and jitter. In addition to providing an efficient and predictable method to store analog circuits, Titan ADX reduces design porting time from several weeks to days.

Strong impact of recession on top 30 MEMS makers

Presenting: The top 30 MEMS (microelectromechanical Systems) suppliers of 2008, thanks to Yole Développement (www.yole.fr), in Lyon, France.

"For the first time, STM is the third MEMS manufacturer worldwide. Overall sales of the top 30 MEMS manufacturers decreased by 2 percent compared to previous year, reaching $5.5 billion," says Jean-Christophe Eloy, CEO of Yole Développement. The current economic crisis strongly impacts the 2009 edition of the top 30 MEMS manufacturers.

The preliminary top 30 MEMS manufacturers is based on Yole’s market research and expertise covering the MEMS field with more than 2,500 contacts per year. Yole Développement continues to analyze in detail the MEMS market and to follow the Top 30 MEMS manufacturers to deliver the most accurate information available, specifically in these times of big changes.

Major facts in 2008
In 2008, the MEMS market has seen significant changes in the ranking of the top 30 MEMS companies:

* STM has become, for the first time, the 3rd MEMS manufacturer by $ revenue in 2008.
* Delphi and Sanyo are moving out of the TOP 30 MEMS ranking.
* Kionix and IMT are entering the Top 30 MEMS ranking for the first time.
* IMT is again the world leader in the independent MEMS foundry business.
* HP and Texas Instruments, despite decreases in sales, are still numbers 1 and 2 of the top 30 MEMS ranking.

2008 has been a year of unusual movement in the industry:

* The winners: Eighteen (18) companies have shown growth ($ revenue) in 2008 compared to 2007, with Kionix leading the way with 70 percent, and also Measurement Specialties, STM, Panasonic and Murata, to name a few.

* The loosers: Twelve (12) companies have shown a decrease in sales ($ revenue) in 2008 compared to 2007 (in addition to Sanyo and Delphi exiting the top 30 ranking), with FormFactor, Silicon Sensing Systems and Lexmark showing the largest decrease in sales.

Note: The top 30 MEMS Manufacturers graph only considers companies designing and/or processing Si MEMS chips. So, for example, although Sensata is an important sensor manufacturer, its ceramic technology excludes it from the Top 30 ranking.

Economic crisis, specific impact on each MEMS sector
The economic crisis has definitively had an impact on MEMS companies’ financial results, specifically during Q4 2008. However, this impact is very different according to the various MEMS players’ markets. The automotive business is probably the most dramatically impacted by the downturn. In terms of units, it is in the range of -10 percent to -20 percent less compared to previous years.

However, some companies suffer less than others (as is the case for Robert Bosch for example) but all of them are impacted. The impact is also different according to the maturity of MEMS products. Established devices such as airbag accelerometers are suffering more than emerging devices (e.g. TPMS).

The consequences in consumer markets are also different, depending on the MEMS products. Manufacturers of inkjet heads are suffering a lot, with a decrease of about 15 percent IJH production for 2008. On the other hand, inertial MEMS products for the consumer market are still growing (in the range of a several percent) with some players (e.g., STMicroelectronics and ADI) showing pretty good results.

Major MEMS facts to be highlighted in 2008 are:
* Systron Donner Automotive had a very strong decrease because of its automotive business (- 14 percent in US$). This moves it from 10th position in 2007 to 13th in 2008.
* IJH players are dramatically impacted with a decrease in both sales and units (this is the case for HP and Lexmark, the latter undergoing the strongest decrease for IJH). However, HP is still the number one MEMS company for 2008.
* Texas Instruments has seen decrease in its DLP chip sales by about 13 percent (in US$).
* Thanks to its growth of the consumer market, STMicroelectronics’ MEMS business had a profitable 2008 with US$200M for its accelerometer business (twice 2007 sales). This is + 42 percent in euros. STMicroelectronics moves from 4th position in 2007 to 3rd in 2008.

Although it is probably the automotive MEMS player performing the best in 2008, Robert Bosch underwent a -10 percent decrease in euros compared to 2007. Its 8’’ fab is now ready, but production will start only when the economic conditions improve. So, Bosch is moving from 3rd position in 2007 to 4th in 2008.

* Avago has bought the BAW activity of Infineon in Q4 2008, however this sales volume (Yole Développement estimates to be $38 million) has been consolidated into Infineon's 2008 financial results.
* VTI is suffering because of the automotive market slowdown (- 10 percent in euro).
* Boeringher Ingelheim microParts showed good performance (+ 9 percent in euro), showing that the biomedical market was not impacted by the crisis.
* Panasonic had a very good 2008 with a 10 percent increase in yen compared to 2007.
* Yole believes Panasonic has taken market shares in gyroscopes from Murata and SSS, which show - 4 percent and - 12 percent decreases in yen respectively. Panasonic is now in 16th position (19th in 2007).
* MEAS’s good performance (+ 57 percent in US $) is explained by the integration of Intersema's sales results. MEAS is now in 19th position (24th in 2007).
* FormFactor underwent the strongest decrease (- 51 percent in US$). This moves it to 27th position (20th in 2007).
* IMT did quite well (+ 15 percent in US $), while Colibrys was affected (-19 percent in US $ and closing of its US activity).

This year, Sanyo and Delphi have disappeared from the 2008 ranking; Sanyo has stopped its foundry activity and Delphi has dramatically reduced its MEMS staff. We believe that only development/assembly will be kept.

How will the future be? Such a crisis will come to an end only when device stock levels fall. Some information from Taiwanese players seems to indicate a restart of semiconductor production. Although it could also be the case for MEMS, Yole believes that 2009 will be a flat year for the MEMS market.

Consumer MEMS shine amid gloom: iSuppli

I was fortunate enough to attend a webinar on MEMS organized recently by iSuppli. The webinar looked at the growth potential of this segment, especially during the downturn, as well as some top MEMS suppliers.

According to Jeremie Bouchaud, director & principal analyst, both consumer and mobile MEMS supply has been exploding. The overall MEMS market is likely to grow from $1 billion in 2006 to $2.5 billion in 2012! There will be strong acceleration due to growth of cell phones -- a hotbed for MEMS, he said.

However, the share of MEMS for rear projection TV is vanishing. A market worth $300 million in 2006 is slowly disappearing, and will, in fact, disappear by 2012. Among other growth areas, personal navigation devices (PNDs) and remote controllers will also see growth.

Consumer and mobile market by MEMS device
The main segments include accelerometers, as well as gyroscopes, RF MEMS switches and capacitors, microphones, etc. The penetration of MEMS devices in CE products is said to increase quite fast.

MEMS growth in cell phones will be faster. It will grow from 3 percent in 2007 to 10 percent in 2008. All of the new, best selling smartphones, such as the iPhone, Nokia N95 and N96, Samsung Omnia, HTC Diamond, Google G1, Blackberry Storm, new Palm OS, etc., have accelerometers. A number of mid range phones also have accelerometers, eg. Sony Ericsson's models.

MEMS usage is also growing in gaming. From 1998-2005, there was technology push with limited success. However, in 2006, Nintendo showed the way with its Wii, as did the Sony PS3. Microsoft did not enter this field back then!

Interestingly, 2006-08, motion sensing unveiled new, untapped target groups for gaming -- the so called casual gamers. In Xmas 2008, Microsoft also embraced motion sensors with accessories. Hence, the penetration of motion sensors has really improved. The next third generation platform will include accelerometers and gyroscopes.

Top 15 MEMS suppliers
The key question: who all are shipping these products? According to iSuppli,The top 15 MEMS suppleirs for CE and mobile phones are: STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Avago Technologies, Knowles, Analog Devices, Murata, Kionix, Epson Toyocom, Invensense, Panasonic, Bosch Sensortec, Freescale, Hokoriku, VTI and Memsic.

Some other companies to watch are:
Accelerometers and gyroscopes: Qualtre, Oki, Wacon, Alps, Virtus, Ricoh.
Pressure sensors: Intersema (MEAS), Metrodyne.
Microphones: Infineon, Wolfson, Memstech, Yamaha, Omron, Panasonic, MEMSensing, AAC, Goertek.
Pico-projectors and other MEMS displays: Microvision, Nippon Signal, Samsung, Konica Minolta, Scanlight, Qualcomm, Pixtronix, Unipixel
RF MEMS switches and capacitors: Wispry, Epcos, RFMD, Baolab.
MEMS oscillators: SiTime, Discera, NXP, Seiko, Intel.
BAW filters: Triquint, Skyworks, MEMS Solutions.
MEMS actuators for autofocus and zoom: Simpel, Sony.
Micro-fuel cells: Angstrom, Tekion, Medis.

It is understood well that not all of these companies will be successful. However, they all need to be monitored carefully.

Commenting on cell phones as a hotbed for inertial and magnetic sensors, Dr. Richard Dixon, senior analyst MEMS, iSuppli, said that the market for accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers is in cell phones. This market will reach $730 million in 2012. Gyroscopes are not in the market yet, and are likely to enter by 2010. The total growth rate is very fast. In units, the annual growth rate is said to be 97 percent.

Interestingly, Apple has contributed significantly to growth of MEMS. The iPhone had a great application. Other vendors followed suite with a 'me too" strategy. Apple also had sustainable business model with downloads on the Apple Store. The chicken and egg issue of price was solved. Also, with the iPhone, there was a free field test of motion sensing based applications.

Major suppliers of accelerometers for cell phones today, include STMicroelectronics, Bosch Sensortec, Analog Devices, Hokuriku, Kionix, MEMSIC, Freescale, Oki. Of these, ST has really been very impressive, while Bosch saw impressive growth in 2008. MEMSIC dropped share in 2008.

Navigation in cell phones next big thing
According to Dixon, navigation in mobile phones is the next big thing. Leading navigation markets by platform are: mobile phone navigation, smartphone navigation, PNDs, car aftermarket and car OEM in-dash, respectively. By 2010, the mobile phone/smartphone navigation segment will account for over 60 percent of the market.

Similarly, magnetic sensors will take off in 2009 for e-Compass. There has been penetration of magnetometers in GPS phones. They have been around since 2003 in Japanese phones. These rather esoteric applications and also had technical issues.

There were successful implementations in 2008 for navigation. Eg., the G1 Street View, and the Nokia 6210. Also, 3D compass in combination with 3D accelerometers.

The leading suppliers in this space today, include AKM, Honeywell, Yamaha, Aichi Steel. In the R&D segment, the leading players are said to be Alps, Omron, Memsic, Oki, ST, Freescale, Demodulation. Growth will be steep from 2009 onward, and take off from 2010 up to 2012.

Another growth are is the multi-sensor packages and IMUs (Inertial Measurement Unit) for navigation. Today, we have six-axis e-compass combining magnetic sensors and accelerometers. In future, there will be IMU for LBS and indoor navigation also using gyroscopes.

The issue with gyroscopes is of: performance, price, size, power consumption and no availability of three-axis. Companies that need to be watched in this space are said to be Invensense, ST, Bosch Sensortec, Qualtre, Oki, Virtus.

Other opportunity areas
Later, Jeremie Bouchaud highlighted two other opportunity areas.

MEMS microphone market presents a major opportunity. It will reach close to $400 million by 2012. In 2008, already 325 million units were selling in cell phones and laptops. Leading players in this segment are said to be Knowles, Akustica, Infineon, Sonion, Memstech, AAC. Knowles has over 90 percent of the market share.

MEMS pico projectors is another growth area. Companies have made lot of progress in this segment. The pico projectors come in various varieties.

In the MEMS scanner based segment, the R&D is led by firms such as Microvison, Konica, Minolta, Scanlight, Nippon, Signal, Symbol. These solutions came first as stand alone projectors. Later, it will come on cell phones. The best opportunity is said to be at the module level.

Another sub-segnent is the DLP based projectors. First it will be in form of a pico-projector, later, followed by usage in cell phones.

Bouchaud advised watching out for non-MEMS alternatives, such as Light Blue Optics,
3M and Logic Wireless.

Coping with commoditization and price erosion
The ASP of MEMS devices for CE and mobile phones is dropping at -13 percent per year. So, what are the ways to get profitable?

To be profitable, there is a need to achieve economies of scale by combining consumer and automotive. Also, there is a need to move wafer size to 8-inch. Next, there is a need for externalizing to foundries. ADI and TSMC have already showed the way. Now, USMC, Tower, Dongbu, Magnachip, Omron, etc., are following.

Innovation, in terms of packaging and 3D integration, test, multi-sensor packages, is another way for making profits. There is an opportunity for the equipment suppliers as well.

Consumer MEMS is currently glowing as a light in today's dark times! It is said to grow from $1 billiom in 2006 to $2.5 billion in 2012, with 19 percent CAGR. This optimistic forecast has already started. Accelerometers are present in 10 percent of cell phones in 2008 as against 3 percent in 2007.


There exist a number of opportunities. Small companies can be successful, eg. Kionix and Invensense. There are still opportunities for newcomers. These can be large companies, fabless startups, foundries, software companies, equipment suppliers, etc. Consumer MEMS is an extremely dynamic market, having fast design cycles.

India unlikely to become LCD TV manufacturing hub

A recent iSuppli report, dwelt on the fact that the hard economic times could actually turn out to be a boon for contract manufacturers serving the LCD-TV market. The reason given was that the leading brand names of the world are increasingly outsourcing their production to reduce risk.

This invariably leads to the China factor, and whether China is dominating when iSuppli speaks about outsourcing to EMS and ODM companies.

Again, I would like to thank Jonathan Cassell, Editorial Director and Manager, Public Relations, iSuppli, for helping me out a lot with my queries! Many thanks.

Responding to my query, Jeffrey Wu, senior analyst, EMS/ODM, for iSuppli Corp., El Segundo, Calif., USA, says that the China factor consists of a few critical elements, such as cheap labor, localized supply chains, manufacturing clusters, government-planned trade zones, etc.

China backlash observed
Wu adds: "In recent years, however, owing to: (a) rising labor costs (due to economic growth and the new labor laws in place), (b) increasing raw material costs (due to the price hike in crude oil), and (c) surging shipping and logistics costs (due to oil price increase), iSuppli has observed backlash in China.

"Nowadays, OEMs, EMS providers and ODMs factor in more considerations, besides the China factor, when calculating their total landed costs. For products that involve substantial tariffs (e.g. LCD TVs and mobile phones in India) and high shipping costs (industrial products such as factory automation equipment), companies tend to look beyond the China factor and set up manufacturing presences close to the end markets.

"For example, more and more companies establish new production plants in Eastern Europe to fulfill the demand in Western Europe and in India to support the demand in Southeast Asia, etc."

It is quite well known that the so-called hard economic times may not apply to China and India. How does iSuppli forsee LCD-TV manufacturing getting outsourced to places such as India?

India unlikely to become LCD TV manufacturing hub
Wu further adds: "Localized LCD TV production involves a few critical elements, including a sizable end market, high tariffs, supply chain readiness (especially panel supply and LCD module assembly) besides other factors.

"While localized LCD TV manufacturing in India is on the rise, the activities are limited to only final assembly India for the time being such that OEMs eschew tariffs. In other words, while the demand for LCD TVs in India has been growing, it is not high enough to justify localized LCD panel and module assembly for most panel suppliers, EMS providers and OEMs."

In short, iSuppli believes that more and more LCD TV production-related activities are taking place in India but India may not become the next LCD TV manufacturing hub in the near future.

Some leading Korean and Japanese makers have already been present in India for some time, and have been going very strong, especially, LG, Panasonic and Samsung. Would they be required to rethink on their outsourcing strategies as well?

Overall outsourcing strategies
According to Wu, Japanese and Koreans traditionally like to maintain their production in-house for they see manufacturing as one of their core competences.

"Specific to the Indian market, these companies ship in CKD or SKD parts into India and administer the final assembly in India. As of right now, their strong performances in the India market do not affect their overall outsourcing strategies.

"However, as these OEMs, especially Korean OEMs, begin to strategize their approach to outsourcing on a global level, their operations in India may be affected in the future. For instance, they may outsource finally assembly activities to their would-be EMS partners in the future," he concludes.