Nikkei Electronics Asia -- February 2007
Industry & Market
Infineon: Innovation Key to Robust Performance

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Jan 26, 2007 18:41 Nikkei Electronics Asia
As part of its strategy to increase its market share in 2007, Infineon Technologies AG is steadily taking on the CAT-iq (cordless advanced technology) standard, regarded as natural evolution of the widely established DECT standard. The CAT-iq standard was defined to provide new product categories for residential gateways that enable fixed-mobile convergence through interoperability and seamless connectivity of communication services and devices. With CAT-iq, manufacturers of DECT handsets and DECT-based equipment are able to produce greater interoperability between terminals and gateways, as well as clearer VoIP calls.

"The aim of Infineon is to offer fully integrated IAD solutions comprising xDSL access technology, Ethernet switching and VoIP telephony support, combined with wireless access technologies such as Wi-Fi for data connections, as well as CAT-iq for voice telephony and multimedia streaming applications," said Pow Tien Tee, regional president and managing director, Infineon Technologies Asia-Pacific (ITAP) Pte Ltd. He added that Infineon is the only semiconductor company to have all these technologies available in-house, combined under one roof.
    
ITAP's Contribution
According to Pow, Infineon's strategy for 2007, "Focus on 10", is aimed at achieving at least 10% annual growth and an EBIT margin of at least 10% per year. The company is focusing its development efforts on energy efficiency, mobility and security - identified as three areas most relevant to modern living.

"The logic market is to grow over the next few years at an average rate of 10% yearly. And we want to profit from this growth at an above-average rate," said Pow, adding that ITAP's contribution to Infineon's performance in 2007 is set to increase.

Innovation is expected to provide the key to robust performance throughout the year for Infineon. "Having a strong R&D team, coupled with understanding of customers' requirements, will bring us a long way despite the uncertainty and the market fluctuations ahead," said Pow. He added that of the 260 engineers working at the R&D center in Singapore, 180 are involved in integrated chip design.

There are currently about 700 engineers working in Infineon's Asia-based design centers, including those in Taiwan, Shanghai and Xian. The company is also investing heavily in software-related development in Bangalore, India, with 400 engineers there working on technology for the global market.

ITAP plans to strengthen its support centers in the region to ensure that its customers are supported from design conception to reference design and actual production.

by Adeline Ong