Entering the analog and mixed signal market: Customization is the key to success

Compared with other well-known semiconductor companies such as TI (Texas Instruments), ADI (Analog Devices) and Linear Technology, EXAR's actions in Taiwan are relatively low-key. However, EXAR also has a large customer base in Taiwan.

　　Photo: Chen Jianliang, General Manager of EXAR Taiwan

　　EXAR Taiwan General Manager Chen Jianliang said that EXAR is a semiconductor company with a history of more than 40 years. In the early days, it focused on communications, network communications and cloud applications. However, to be fair, its performance was not very outstanding. About two years ago, the company began to turn to analog and mixed signal development. So far, the company's revenue and profits have achieved good results, and it is also continuing to grow.

　　Chen Jianliang also said frankly that EXAR is a foreign company after all, and it attaches great importance to gross profit margin. Therefore, the market it focuses on is not the PC or consumer electronics field that we are familiar with, but the application market of industrial control, network communication and medical treatment. He gave an example, saying that many customers do not like to do the "Me too" market. In other words, system customization is very important. Only by doing so can the system developed by the customer be valuable. However, the resources, manpower and time invested in the early stage of design are naturally not to be mentioned. However, once the product starts to be shipped, the profit obtained will be considerable.

　　Chen Jianliang also mentioned that, precisely because of the emphasis on profits, EXAR is not too concerned about orders with large shipment volumes, as the risks are relatively high. On the contrary, for customers with smaller shipment volumes, on the one hand, they can maintain profit performance, and on the other hand, this type of market happens to coincide with the industrial control and network communication fields, which is what EXAR focuses on.

　　However, since EXAR's product line overlaps to a certain extent with other first-tier analog and mixed-signal semiconductor companies, how should EXAR respond to the numerous competitors? In this regard, Chen Jianliang pointed out that although EXAR has recently begun to operate in the analog and mixed-signal semiconductor market, in fact, at the system level, EXAR also has many software technologies that allow customers to achieve a higher degree of customization. Take security monitoring as an example. Due to signal attenuation, the transmission distance of security control images is greatly limited. However, the software technology owned by EXAR can be written into FPGA and then combined with EXAR's mixed signal components. The transmission distance can be greatly increased by several times, and the cost is quite low. In the face of fierce competition in the security control market, this is undoubtedly a very valuable solution for customers.