Linear Technology explains 30 years of analog innovation, industry and automobile are the future focus

What kind of results can be achieved by focusing on analog design for 30 years? Linear Technology has recently handed in a satisfactory answer: annual sales of nearly 1.5 billion US dollars have set a new record, which is also the best interpretation of the importance of analog technology. There is no doubt that it is the development strategy of shifting from consumer electronics to industrial, communication and automotive fields that has helped Linear Technology achieve rapid growth and new leaps. "Today we can prove to those who were skeptical 30 years ago that analog technology is still thriving." Linear Technology CEO Lothar Maier proudly said.

Lothar Maier recently came to China and shared with Chinese engineering friends the company's development history of simulation technology over the past 30 years and its current and future product layout.

Figure 1: Linear Technology explains its 30-year history of analog innovation, with industry and automotive being the future focus.

At present, the total sales of analog semiconductors in the world have reached 44 billion US dollars, accounting for 15% of the entire semiconductor market, while the scale of high-performance analog products that Linear Technology focuses on is 10 billion to 14 billion US dollars. In 2005, Linear Technology pioneered the shift of its design and sales resources from the consumer and cellular phone business, which accounted for nearly 1/3 of its sales, to the industrial, communications, automotive and military/aerospace fields. Lothar Maier pointed out, "These markets are more in line with our strategy of providing innovative products. This repositioning of development strategy has enabled us to maintain stable sales performance in the following years, and last year's growth rate surpassed all competitors."

In analog design, the experience and creativity of design engineers are very important. Lothar Maier believes that the development of analog technology does not rely on scale, but on innovative products to win the competition. More than 300 analog engineers of Linear Technology develop innovative products by visiting customers regularly to understand their needs and help them quickly put their products on the market. For example, the micromodule product designed by analog experts greatly simplifies the work of customers, and the sales growth of this product in the first quarter of 2011 has exceeded 20%.

Linear Technology's sales in the industrial, communications and automotive markets currently account for nearly three-quarters of the company's total sales. Urgent demands such as improving driving experience, strengthening safety measures, improving vehicle control and efficiency, and making vehicles more environmentally friendly are driving a surge in the use of automotive electronics. "The proportion of the automotive market in the company's sales is growing steadily. In the first quarter of this year, sales of automotive products reached 13%." Lothar Maier emphasized, "If the sales of automotive analog products are close to 20% of total sales in a few years, we will not be surprised." Linear Technology's leading products in the field of highly integrated battery monitoring ICs have been widely used in electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and uninterruptible power supply equipment. The second-generation product LTC6803 can monitor the voltage of up to 12 batteries in series. The stacking capability allows multiple LTC6803s to be connected in series to monitor the voltage of each battery in a long high-voltage battery string, thereby extending battery life, improving battery operation time and providing key safety functions.

However, despite the rapid growth in sales in the automotive market, the industrial market remains Linear Technology's largest and most stable terminal market. Sales in the first quarter of this year have reached 41% of total sales. Linear Technology is very optimistic about the development prospects of intelligent sensor networks, which can be widely used to monitor and optimize complex industrial engineering, remote field installations and building HVAC. Its latest four energy harvesting products have been accepted by customers. Around these products, design engineers will develop many groundbreaking terminal products, such as aircraft anti-collision sensors, automatic dimming doors and windows, battery chargers, bridge monitors, building automation, electricity consumption monitors, gas meters, health monitors, HVAC controls, security systems, and more.

Linear Technology's success comes from not only having many innovative products, but also providing perfect support for these products and customers. Linear Technology's sales and technical support teams are spread all over the world, and the analog expert team is distributed in 60 offices in different locations, which can directly participate in customer designs, thus eliminating many customers' worries. The first Chinese analog design center will also be established in Hangzhou this year. Currently, Linear Technology has established 5 sales and technical support centers in China, and will set up the 6th office in Guangzhou this year.

"We never compete with others on price, but are always committed to providing customers with the best overall value, which includes comprehensive considerations of product performance, simplified design, fewer discrete components, and smaller board area in addition to product cost." In addition, Linear Technology's products strive to achieve the best in quality and reliability, which is very important for the industrial and automotive markets.

Owning its own manufacturing plant provides a guarantee for Linear Technology to achieve on-time delivery and the shortest order-to-delivery time in the industry. The product delivery time is shortened from 12 weeks (8 weeks of wafer manufacturing + 4 weeks of subsequent processes) to 4 weeks. This is due to Linear Technology's huge silicon wafer library. The silicon wafers that have been tested and ready for assembly can be directly assembled and tested, saving customers 8 weeks of wafer manufacturing time. Lothar Maier also said that the current fab can support sales of 2 billion US dollars. At the same time, the company has completed land reserves. Once sales increase significantly, it will actively add or expand factories.

In addition, the implementation of Linear Technology's "no production suspension" policy also effectively exempts customers from the cost increase caused by redesign. For products with long life cycles such as industrial, automotive and communication infrastructure, this policy will save customers a lot of time and cost.