Renesas Electronics announces that it will cease production and supply of filters in 2018
Recently, Renesas Electronics announced that it will abandon its microwave component business and plans to cease production and supply of microwave components in the summer of 2018; And the company revealed that its microwave component department has suspended product development for a period of time.
Microwave components were a business unit of Renesas that vigorously promoted the use of compound semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) and silicon germanium (SiGe). Its main products include low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), RF switches, mixers, and RF transistors for wireless device applications; This business unit had a revenue of approximately 6-7 billion yen ($59-69 million) in the fiscal year ending in March, accounting for about 1% of Renesas' annual net sales of approximately 699 billion yen ($6.857 billion), and has been profitable in recent years.
Regarding the decision to end the microwave component business, Renesas' explanation is: "Although the business unit is profitable, we have not invested in technology and product development in recent years; and most of our microwave component products will be further integrated into system LSI. ”
In addition, Renesas pointed out, "We are seeing more and more competitors rising in the market, especially manufacturers from Taiwan; and we have observed a further downward trend in the market price of this type of component. In such an environment, we conclude that the profitability of this business unit cannot be sustained for too long
As for the company's existing mass-produced microwave component products, Renesas said, "We will negotiate with customers to end this business within two years to minimize the impact on customers. Based on customer needs, we can pre manufacture more quantities of products to maintain a certain inventory
After discontinuing microwave components, Renesas' compound semiconductor component business will focus on optical components; The company hopes to expand its business in this technology field by accelerating the development of highly reliable industrial equipment photo couplers, while strengthening innovation in laser and optical diode design for optical communication applications in data centers and base stations.
2020-09-04Reading volume：6116
