Specialty foundry TowerJazz (which has fabrication plants at Tower Semiconductor Ltd in Migdal Haemek, Israel, and at its subsidiaries Jazz Semiconductor Inc in Newport Beach, CA, USA and TowerJazz Japan Ltd) says that, at SEMICON China 2014 in Shanghai, its VP of sales for the Asia Pacific region, Dani Ashkenazi, presented at the ‘More than Moore Technology Forum’ on 19 March, which focused on ‘Internet-of-Things Application driven MtM innovation’. Topics included: MEMS/sensor technologies, RF/mmWave technologies, CMOS image sensors, high voltage, high power, LED drivers, and the IP needed in the ‘More than Moore’ world.
TowerJazz’s presentation discussed the role of the specialty foundry in the fast-growing China market and highlighted the firm’s technology, including silicon germanium (SiGe), silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and its power platform (bipolar-CMOS-DMOS process and 700V technology). TowerJazz claims to be the market leader among foundries for SiGe processes. In China, customers are using this technology for wireless applications such as base stations, GPS, and walkie-talkies. In addition, they are using the firm’s SOI switch for cell-phones and its power platform for notebooks, mobile applications and LED lighting.
TowerJazz has engaged nearly 20 China customers for its SOI switch technology. The firm reckons that, by collaborating with them, its market share will rise for Chinese-made mobile phones. In addition, at least 10 China customers are already engaged in using TowerJazz’s 700V technology for LED lighting and for AC-DC converters. Both 1.0μm 6-inch and 0.18μm 8-inch nodes offer a complete solution for LED lighting, says TowerJazz. According to market research firm IHS, the industrial LED market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8% from $1.5bn in 2013 to $2.3bn in 2017.
“We continue to place a strong focus on China as it consumes almost 50% of the world’s ICs and internal China fabs can only cover 10% of the need,” says Ashkenazi. “We are growing our customer base in China and are committed to meeting the rising demands of this region,” he adds. “We increased our revenue growth in China by 50% from 2012 to 2013 and we expect to maintain this growth rate in 2014 and beyond.”
