Microsemi ponders products for processes

Microsemi may not use Intel processes to make standard proprietary products, although it has shipped ASICs made on Intel’s 22nm process.

Eighteen months ago, Microsemi became Intel’s fifth announced foundry customer after Achronix, Tabula, Netronome and Altera.

Although three of those are FPGA companies, and although Microsemi has two FPGA product lines, the company has not yet decided to make its SmartFusion and Igloo FPGAs on Intel processes.

“ASICs have been made and delivered to customers on the 22nm process,” Microsemi evp Russ Garcia told Electronics Weekly, “but our standard products may not be suitable.” Clearly the jury is out on this one.

Garcia confirmed that Microsemi’s agreement with Intel extended to the upcoming 14nm process.

Microsemi’s flash-based Igloo FPGAs are currently made on a 65nm process, so an upgrade to 22nm, or even 14nm, would have very significant effects on product specifications.

And this would help Microsemi achieve its aspiration of becoming a $3 billion revenue company over the next five years. It is currently doing $1.2 billion.

Microsemi is a unique company in terms of its product mix – FPGA; Timing and Synchronisation; and Analog and Mixed Signal.

Timing accounts for 20% of the company’s revenues; mixed signal/RF for 26%; FPGA for 23% and discretes for 31%.

Markets are comms 34%, defence and security 27%, aerospace 15% and industrial 24%.

“We’ve changed from a defence-oriented discrete company to a communications infrastructure company,” said Garcia, “and our revenue has more than doubled in the past four years.”

david manners

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via Yuichun