NXP Semiconductors

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NXP Semiconductors N.V.
Public
Traded as NASDAQNXPI
Industry Electronics
Founded 2006, formerly a division of Philips
Headquarters High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Netherlands
Key people
Rick Clemmer, President & CEO
Products Semiconductors
Revenue Increase US$5.647 billion (2014)
Increase US$1.067 billion (2014)
Increase US$539 million (2014)
Number of employees
28, 000 (2014)[1]
Website www.nxp.com

NXP Semiconductors is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturer. It is one of the worldwide top 20 semiconductor sales leaders[2] and was founded in 1953, when the Philips Board started a semiconductor operation with manufacturing and development in Nijmegen, Netherlands.[3] Formerly known as Philips Semiconductors, the company was sold by Philips to a consortium of private equity investors in 2006. The new name, NXP, stood for the consumer's "next experience", according to then-CEO Frans van Houten.[4] On August 6, 2010, NXP completed its IPO, with shares trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol NXPI. On December 23, 2013, NXP Semiconductors was added to the NASDAQ 100.[5]

NXP Semiconductors provides mixed signal and standard product solutions based on its RF, analog, power management, interface, security and digital processing expertise. These semiconductors are used in a wide range of "smart" automotive, identification, wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, mobile, consumer and computing applications. Headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands, the company has approximately 28,000 employees working in more than 25 countries—including 3,500 employees in Research & Development and reported revenue of $5.65 billion in 2014.[6] NXP's shipment-based revenue in Greater China is twice as big compared to Europe, and 8,000 of the company's employees are based in China.[7]

NXP is the co-inventor of near field communication (NFC) technology along with Sony and supplies NFC chip sets which enable mobile phones to be used to pay for goods, and store and exchange data securely.[8] NXP manufactures chips for eGovernment applications such as electronic passports; RFID tags and labels; and transport and access management, with the chip set and contactless card for MIFARE used by many major public transit systems worldwide.[9]

In addition, NXP manufactures automotive chips for in-vehicle networking, passive keyless entry and immobilization, and car radios.[10] NXP invented the I²C interface over 30 years ago and is a supplier of I²C solutions.[11] NXP is also a volume supplier of standard logic devices, and celebrated its 50 years in logic (via its history as both Signetics and Philips Semiconductors) in March 2012.[12]

NXP currently owns approximately 9,000 issued or pending patents.[13]

On March 2, 2015, it was announced that NXP Semiconductors would merge with chip designer and producer Freescale Semiconductor in $40 billion US-dollar deal.[14][15] The merger was closed on December 7, 2015.[16]

On May 28, 2015, it was announced that NXP Semiconductor's RF Power Division will be sold to Jianguang Asset Management Co. Ltd ("JAC Capital") for $1.8 billion.[17]

Philips Semiconductors

  • Silicon Valley-based Signetics, the "first company in the world established expressly to make and sell integrated circuits"[18] and inventor of the 555 timer IC, was acquired by Philips in 1975. At the time, it was claimed that "with the Signetics acquisition, Philips was now number two in the league table of semiconductor manufacturers in the world."[19] In 1987, Philips-Signetics, a unit of Philips, was ranked Europe's largest semiconductor maker, with sales of $1.36 billion in 1986.[20]
  • Philips acquired VLSI Technology in June 1999. At the time, the acquisition made Philips the world's sixth largest semiconductor company.[21]
  • In December 2005, Philips announced its intention to legally separate its semiconductor division, Philips Semiconductors, into an independent legal entity.[22]
  • In September 2006, Philips completed the sale of an 80.1% stake in Philips Semiconductors to a consortium of private equity investors consisting of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners, Apax Partners, and AlpInvest Partners.[23]

Name change and spin-off from Philips

  • The new company name NXP was announced on August 31, 2006,[4] and was officially launched during the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) consumer electronics show in Berlin. The newly independent NXP was ranked as one of the world's top 10 semiconductor companies.[24] At the time, CEO Frans van Houten emphasized the importance of NXP in enabling "vibrant media" technologies in mobile phones, digital TVs, portable music players and other consumer electronics devices.[25]
  • NXP's first acquisition as an independent company was in 2007, when NXP announced that it would acquire Silicon Laboratories’ AeroFONE single-chip phone and power amplifier product lines to strengthen its Mobile and Personal business.[26] Fourteen months later, NXP announced that it would transform its Mobile and Personal business unit into a joint venture with STMicroelectronics, which in 2009 became ST-Ericsson, a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson Mobile Platforms and STMicroelectronics, after ST purchased NXP's 20% stake.[27]
  • Similarly, in April 2008, NXP announced it would acquire the set-top box business of Conexant to complement its existing Home business unit.[28] In October 2009, NXP announced that it would sell its Home business unit to Trident Microsystems.[29]
  • In September 2008, NXP announced that it would restructure its manufacturing, R&D and back office operations, resulting in 4,500 job cuts worldwide, for annual savings of $550 million.[30]

Focus on high-performance mixed signal and standard products

  • Current president and CEO Rick Clemmer took over from Frans van Houten on January 1, 2009.[31] Clemmer has emphasized the importance of "high performance mixed signal" products as a key focus area for NXP.[32] As of 2011, "standard products" including components such as small signal, power and integrated discretes[33] accounted for 30 percent of NXP's business.[32]
  • On July 26, 2010, NXP announced that it had acquired Jennic based in Sheffield, UK,[34] which now operates as part of its Smart Home and Energy product line, offering wireless connectivity solutions based on ZigBee and JenNet-IP.
  • On August 6, 2010, NXP announced its IPO at NASDAQ, with 34,000,000 shares, pricing each $14.[35]
  • In December 2010, NXP announced that it would sell its Sound Solutions business to Knowles Electronics, part of Dover Corporation, for $855 million in cash.[36] The acquisition was completed as of July 5, 2011.[37]
  • In April 2012, NXP announced its intent to acquire electronic design consultancy Catena to work on automotive applications, to capitalize on growing demand for engine emissions reduction and car-to-infrastructure, car-to-car, and car-to-driver communication.[38]
  • In July 2012, NXP sold its high-speed data converter assets to Integrated Device Technology.[39]
  • In 2012, revenue for NXP's Identification business unit was $986 million, up 41% from 2011, in part due to growing sales of NFC chips and secure elements.[40]
  • On January 4, 2013, NXP and Cisco announced their investment in Cohda Wireless, an Australian company focused on car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communications.[41]
  • In January 2013, NXP announced 700-900 redundancies worldwide in an effort to cut costs related to "support services".[42]
  • In May 2013, NXP announced that it acquired Code Red Technologies, a provider of embedded software development such as the LPCXpresso IDE and Red Suite.[43]
  • In July 2014, NXP was reported to have sacked union organisers.[44] A campaign was started for their reinstatement.[45]
  • In March 2015, a merger agreement was announced through which NXP would acquire rival Freescale Semiconductor.[46]

Merger with Freescale Semiconductor

On the March 2, 2015, it was revealed that NXP Semiconductors would acquire Freescale Semiconductor.[14][15]

Similarities and differences

Both have deep roots stretching back to when they were part of Philips NV (in the case of NXP), and Motorola (Freescale). Each has comparable revenue figures; US$4.8B and US$4.2B for NXP and Freescale respectively in 2013. NXP primarily focuses on near field communication (NFC) and high-performance mixed signal (HPMS) hardware. Freescale focuses on its microprocessor and microcontroller. Both companies possess roughly equal patent portfolios.[47]

Corporate reasoning

Certainly, each company brings core strengths to the combined organization, NFC from NXP and microcontrollers from Freescale. Also, both companies have been actively involved in litigation over the years as both plaintiff and defendant, so a larger and, more importantly, a more geographically diverse patent portfolio could likely prove useful in such matters. Chipworks' analysts suggest the newly merged company will divest itself of many properties as the merger progresses.[47]

Some analysts believe cost savings after the two companies merge are expected to be about $500M dollars. Customers are ultimately divided over the consolidation of their product families and how it may affect their own development and end-products.[47]

Worldwide sites

NXP Headquarters in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, July 2011
NXP LPC1114 in 33-pin HVQFN package and LPC1343 in 48-pin LQFP package, both ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers

NXP Semiconductors' global headquarters is in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company has operations in more than 25 countries, with engineering design teams in 19 locations worldwide.[48]

NXP currently has 12 manufacturing sites, with seven test and assembly sites and five wafer fabs:[48]

Test and assembly
Wafer fabs

Joint ventures and other major interests

See also

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  4. 4.0 4.1 "Philips Semiconductors to become NXP", EE Times, August 31, 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
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  13. "NXP Semiconductors Corporate Factsheet", NXP Semiconductors, May, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
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  15. 15.0 15.1 http://otp.investis.com/clients/us/free_scale/usn/usnews-story.aspx?cid=896&newsid=28737 NXP and Freescale Announce $40 Billion Merger
  16. NXP Semiconductors And Freescale Semiconductor Close Merger RTTNews. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.
  17. http://www.everythingrf.com/News/details/1576-nxp-to-sell-rf-power-business-for-1-8-billion NXP to Sell RF Power Business for $1.8 Billion
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External links