Tag Archives: letter-ap-business

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $83.1 billion during the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 6.0 percent compared to the first quarter of 2014. Global sales for the month of March 2015 were $27.7 billion, 6.0 percent higher than the March 2014 total of $26.1 billion and 0.1 percent lower than last month’s total. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“Despite macroeconomic challenges, first quarter global semiconductor sales are higher than they were last year, which was a record year for semiconductor revenue,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “The Americas region posted its sixth straight month of double-digit, year-to-year growth to lead all regional markets, and DRAM and analog products continue to be key drivers of global sales growth.”

Regionally, sales were up compared to last month in Asia Pacific/All Other (3.1 percent), Europe (2.7 percent), and China (1.0 percent), which is broken out as a separate country in the sales data for the first time. Japan(-0.4 percent) and the Americas (-6.9 percent) both saw sales decrease compared to last month. Compared to March 2014, sales increased in the Americas (14.2 percent), China (13.3 percent), and Asia Pacific/All Other (3.8 percent), but decreased in Europe (-4.0 percent) and Japan (-9.6 percent).

“Congress is considering a legislative initiative called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that would help promote continued growth in the semiconductor sector and throughout the U.S. economy,” Neuffer continued. “Free trade is vital to the U.S. semiconductor industry. In 2014, U.S. semiconductor company sales totaled $173 billion, representing over half the global market, and 82 percent of those sales were to customers outside the United States. TPA paves the way for free trade, and Congress should swiftly enact it.”

March 2015
Billions
Month-to-Month Sales
Market Last Month Current Month % Change
Americas 6.23 5.80 -6.9%
Europe 2.88 2.95 2.7%
Japan 2.55 2.54 -0.4%
China 7.75 7.83 1.0%
Asia Pacific/All Other 8.33 8.59 3.1%
Total 27.74 27.71 -0.1%
Year-to-Year Sales
Market Last Year Current Month % Change
Americas 5.08 5.80 14.2%
Europe 3.08 2.95 -4.0%
Japan 2.81 2.54 -9.6%
China 6.91 7.83 13.3%
Asia Pacific/All Other 8.27 8.59 3.8%
Total 26.15 27.71 6.0%
Three-Month-Moving Average Sales
Market Oct/Nov/Dec Jan/Feb/Mar % Change
Americas 6.73 5.80 -13.8%
Europe 3.01 2.95 -1.7%
Japan 2.80 2.54 -9.1%
China 8.03 7.83 -2.5%
Asia Pacific/All Other 8.57 8.59 0.2%
Total 29.13 27.71 -4.9%

About SIA

Entegris, Inc., a provider of yield-enhancing materials and solutions for advanced manufacturing processes, announced the election of James P. Lederer as an independent director at the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders held today. Mr. Lederer’s career spanned more than 32 years, with the last 18 in the semiconductor industry, including six years as an executive officer at Qualcomm.

“I am delighted to have Jim on our board,” said Bertrand Loy, president and CEO of Entegris. “Jim’s experience at Qualcomm brings an important customer and industry perspective. I look forward to his contributions and his insight as a member of our board.”

Paul Olson, chairman of the board of Entegris, added: “Through his career Jim has demonstrated a keen understanding of what it takes to succeed in a fast-paced technology industry, having played a key role in driving Qualcomm to be a technology powerhouse. I think his perspective on the industry will be an invaluable addition to the board.”

“Entegris is increasingly viewed as an indispensable partner by the semiconductor industry’s technology leaders.” says Lederer. “I look forward to working with Bertrand and his leadership team to continue to drive growth and success at Entegris.”

Mr. Lederer most recently served as Executive Vice President of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and General Manager of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT, semiconductor division). He retired from Qualcomm in January 2014. During his 18-year career at Qualcomm, Mr. Lederer also served in a number of senior management and finance roles. Prior to joining Qualcomm, Mr. Lederer held a variety of management positions at Motorola, General Motors and Scott Aviation. Mr. Lederer holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration (Finance/MIS) and an M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the School of Management.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a developer of NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Shannon Systems, a supplier of enterprise-class PCIe SSD and storage array solutions to China’s internet and other industries.

Under the terms of the agreement, Silicon Motion will acquire Shannon for a total purchase price of $57.5 million, which includes a combination of cash, equity and contingency payments. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review and approval, and it is expected to close by the end of July 2015.

“China has become the largest internet market in the world and its internet companies have already widely adopted SSDs for their data centers and hyperscale servers. More recently, Chinese corporates and government organizations have started using SSDs for data virtualization. These operators of corporate and internet infrastructure have increasingly been turning to Shannon for world-class, locally developed and supported SSD solutions,” said Wallace Kou, President and CEO of Silicon Motion. “Shannon was co-founded by Dr. Xueshi Yang, Marvell’s previous SSD controller architect and a Seagate veteran, with a mission of developing innovative and competitive enterprise SSD solutions in China. I am excited that upon closing, Xueshi will be joining Silicon Motion’s executive team to continue spearheading enterprise SSD activities.”

In 2014, Shannon launched the industry’s first 6.4TB PCIe SSD with ultra-low access latency and a power envelope of less than 25 watts. More recently, Shannon introduced PCIe-RAID technology, an innovative flash array solution that offers enterprise customers uncompromised performance and high availability. Shannon has already successfully expanded its customer base to more than 80 companies and count China’s leading internet companies in e-commerce, on-line travel, and mobile security as key customers. In 2015, Shannon expects to rapidly scale sales to approximately $14 to $18 million. The impact of this acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to Silicon Motion’s non-GAAP earnings per share in the second half of 2015 and more accretive in full-year 2016.

Communication and computer systems are forecast to account for the greatest percentage of IC sales in every geographic region—Americas, Europe, Japan, and Asia-Pacific—this year, according to data released in the 2015 edition of IC Insights’ IC Market Drivers, A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits. Communications applications are expected to capture just over 41 percent of IC sales in Asia-Pacific and 39 percent of the revenue in the Americas region this year.  Computer applications are forecast to be the largest end-use market in Japan and Europe, accounting for nearly one-third of ICs sales in both regions in 2015 (Figure 1).

Fig. 1

Fig. 1

Consumer systems are forecast to be the third-largest end-use category for ICs in the Americas, Japan, and Asia-Pacific regions in 2015. In Europe, automotive applications are expected to remain the third largest end-use category for ICs this year.

Collectively, communications, computers, and consumer systems are projected to account for 85.7 percent of IC sales in the Americas this year compared to 77.9 percent in Japan and 90.8 percent in Asia-Pacific. Communications, computer, and automotive applications are forecast to represent 82.3 percent of IC sales in Europe in 2015.

For more than three decades, computer applications were the largest market for IC sales but that changed in 2013 when the global communications IC market took over the top spot due to steady strong growth in smartphones and weakening demand for personal computers. Globally, communications systems are forecast to represent 38.1 percent of the $310.5 billion IC market this year compared to 35.2 percent for computers, and 12.2 percent for consumer (Figure 2). IC sales to the automotive market are forecast to represent only about 8 percent of the total IC sales this year but from 2013-2018, this segment is projected to rise by a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8%, highest among all the end-use applications.

Fig. 2

Fig. 2

IC Market Drivers 2015—A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits examines the largest, existing system opportunities for ICs and evaluates the potential for new applications that are expected to help fuel the market for ICs.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.37 billion in orders worldwide in March 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.10, according to the March EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.   A book-to-bill of 1.10 means that $110 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in March 2015 was $1.37 billion. The bookings figure is 4.6 percent higher than the final February 2015 level of $1.31 billion, and is 5.9 percent higher than the March 2014 order level of $1.30 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in March 2015 was $1.25 billion. The billings figure is 2.4 percent lower than the final February 2015 level of $1.28 billion, and is 1.9 percent higher than the March 2014 billings level of $1.23 billion.

““Three-month average bookings reported by North American-based semiconductor manufacturing equipment providers reflected sequential and year-over-year momentum in the first quarter of 2015,”” said SEMI president and CEO Denny McGuirk. “This marks the third consecutive month that bookings exceeded billing and the ratio remained above parity.””

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

Billings
(3-mo. avg)

Bookings
(3-mo. avg)

Book-to-Bill
October 2014 

$1,184.2

$1,102.3

0.93
November 2014 

$1,189.4

$1,216.8

1.02
December 2014 

$1,395.9

$1,381.5

0.99
January 2015 

$1,279.1

$1,325.6

1.04
February 2015 (final)

$1,280.1

$1,313.7

1.03
March 2015 (prelim)

$1,249.1

$1,374.4

1.10

Source: SEMI, April 2015

Synopsys, Inc. today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Codenomicon. The additional talent, technology and products will expand Synopsys’ presence in the software security market segment and extend the Coverity quality and security platform to help software developers throughout various organizations quickly find and fix security vulnerabilities and protect applications from security attacks.

Based in Finland, Codenomicon Oy is well-known and highly respected in the global software security world with a focus on software embedded in chips and devices. Its customer base includes some of the world’s leading organizations in telecommunications, finance, manufacturing, software development, healthcare, automotive and government agencies. A team of security engineers at Codenomicon independently discovered the infamous Heartbleed bug while improving a feature in their security testing tools and reported it to the National Cyber Security Centre in Finland (NCSC-FI). A Codenomicon engineer is credited with naming the bug.

“Businesses are increasingly concerned about the security of their applications and protecting customer data. Adding the Internet of Things to the mix increases the complexity of security even further. During the past 15 months, the world was hit by major security breaches such as Heartbleed, Shellshock, etc.,” said Chi-Foon Chan, president and co-CEO of Synopsys. “By combining the Coverity platform with the Codenomicon product suite, Synopsys will expand its reach to provide a more robust software security solution with a full set of tools to help ensure the integrity, privacy and safety of an organization’s most critical software applications.”

Codenomicon’s solutions will help Synopsys deliver a more comprehensive security offering for the software development lifecycle by adding its Defensics tool for file and protocol fuzz testing, and its AppCheck tool for software composition analysis and vulnerability assessment.

The Codenomicon Defensics tool used to discover the Heartbleed bug automatically tests the target system for unknown vulnerabilities, helping developers find and fix them before a product goes to market. It is a systematic solution to make systems more robust, harden them against cyber-attacks and mitigate the risk of 0-day vulnerabilities. The Defensics tool also helps expose failed cryptographic checks, privacy leaks or authentication bypass weaknesses. The Defensics tool is heavily used by buyers of Internet-enabled products to validate and verify that procured products meet their stringent security and robustness requirements.

The Codenomicon AppCheck tool adds software composition analysis (SCA) capabilities to the Coverity platform, helping customers reduce risks in third-party and open source components. When using the AppCheck tool, customers are able to obtain a software bill of materials (BOM) for their application portfolios, and identify components with known vulnerabilities.

“Since our inception, Codenomicon has focused on making the world a safer place by giving organizations the visibility and real-time intelligence necessary to effectively protect their software assets against security vulnerabilities,” said Rauli Kaksonen, co-founder of Codenomicon. “By adding our pioneering solutions to Synopsys’ Coverity platform, we can extend these benefits to a broader audience and help reduce risk across a range of industries and applications.”

The terms of the deal, which is not material to Synopsys financials, have not been disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close within 30 days.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today applauded the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (TPA-2015), legislation introduced today by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The SIA board of directors, led by Intel CEO and SIA chairman Brian Krzanich, sent a letter today to congressional leaders expressing support for the legislation and urging its swift passage. Additionally, SIA president and CEO John Neuffer released the following statement in support of the bill:

“SIA strongly supports Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and applauds the introduction of this bipartisan legislation. TPA paves the way for free trade by empowering U.S. negotiators to reach final trade agreements consistent with negotiating objectives laid out by Congress. Free trade is especially critical to the U.S. semiconductor industry, which designs and manufactures the chips that enable virtually all electronics. Our industry relies on a global ecosystem of materials and equipment suppliers, technology providers, services, R&D, and customers, so we depend on open access to international markets.

“In 2014, U.S. semiconductor company sales totaled $173 billion, representing over half the global market, and 82 percent of those sales were to customers outside the United States. The U.S. semiconductor industry employs nearly 250,000 people in high-skilled, high-wage jobs in America, and supports over one million additional U.S. jobs. Since most of the U.S. semiconductor industry’s customers are abroad, free trade is critical to creating and supporting these U.S. jobs.

“The United States is currently pursuing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), two important trade agreements that would result in billions of dollars in global trade of semiconductor products. Without TPA, these agreements may never see the light of day.

“TPA makes sense for America and for the future prosperity of Americans. We commend Chairman Ryan, Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden for introducing this pro-growth legislation and urge lawmakers to act swiftly to approve it.”

The recently released Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the most expensive Galaxy S line smartphone yet built, but has a lower retail price than a comparable iPhone 6 Plus, according to a preliminary estimate by IHS and its Technology Mobile Handsets Intelligence Service.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone with 64GB of NAND memory carries a bill of materials (BOM) of $284.85 with the cost rising to $290.45 when the $5.60 manufacturing cost is added, according to results from the IHS teardown of a phone purchased from Verizon. The retail price at Verizon for the Galaxy S6 Edge is $799.99.

A comparable Apple iPhone 6 Plus 64GB has a BOM of $236.04, which rises to $240.05 after the $4.01 manufacturing cost is added, and a retail price from the Apple online store of $849.00, $50 higher than the S6 Edge.

“Overall, this is the priciest Samsung Galaxy S series bill of materials to date. In fact, Samsung seems to have consistently packed more features and cost into their flagship Galaxy S line of phones over the last three generations of product, now producing a BOM cost that is notably higher than comparable iPhones,” said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of research and analysis for IHS.

Preliminary Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Teardown Cost
Analysis vs. iPhone 6 Plus 64GB
iPhone 6 Plus Galaxy S6 Edge
64GB 64GB
Direct Materials Costs $236.04 $284.85
Conversion Costs $4.01 $5.60
Total Costs $240.05 $290.45
Retail $849.99 $799.99

Source: IHS Technology iPhone 6 Plus analysis December 2014. S6 analysis April 2015.

Cost/Pricing Approach Similar to Apple

The Edge model retails for $100 more than the regular version of the S6. Additionally, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge both are priced $100 more at retail for each increment of memory from 32GB to 64GB and from 64GB to 128GB. “It only costs Samsung around $13 for 32GB in memory and less than $26 for an additional 64GB in memory,” Rassweiler said. “So Samsung generates an additional $87 or so in profit on the 64GB model when compared to the 32GB model. Apple has also been structuring their iPhone offering like this for years. It boosts margins.”

SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 EDGE SM-G925V Top Cost Drivers
Itemized Components MfgName Description Total Cost
Display SAMSUNG Display / Touchscreen Module, 5.1″
Quad HD Super AMOLED,
2560×1440 Pixels, 577PPI, Dual Edge		 $85.00
IC Content
Apps Processor SAMSUNG Apps Processor – Octa-Core, 64-Bit, 14nm, PoP $29.50
Baseband IC QUALCOMM Baseband Processor – Multi-Mode, 28nm, PoP $15.00
Memory
NAND (eMMC, MLC, …) SAMSUNG Flash – UFS NAND, 64GB, PoP $25.00
DRAM SAMSUNG SDRAM – LPDDR4, 3GB, PoP $27.50
Power Management Ics $5.40
RF / PA Section $12.50
User Interface Ics $9.95
Sensors $4.80
Modules
Primary Camera Module Rear Camera Module – 16MP, BSI CMOS, OIS $18.50
Secondary Camera Module Front Camera Module – 5MP, BSI CMOS $3.00
BT / WLAN Module(s) MURATA BT / WLAN Module $4.00
Battery Pack(s) ITM Li-Polymer, 3.85V, 2600mAh, 10.01Wh $3.50
Other Noteworthy Items
Box Contents $6.20
Enclosure elements Die-Cast Aluminum Center Piece &
Machined Aluminum Bottom Piece		 $12.00
Other Mechanical / Electro-Mechanicals $23.00

Source: IHS Technology April 2015

Pricey Display

Samsung has been using the Galaxy line to showcase its Super AMOLED technology in previous Galaxy S series generations, and the Galaxy S6 and S6 EDGE are no exceptions to this rule. The displays on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge offer higher resolution (2560×1440 pixels, known as Quad HD) than the iPhone 6 Plus which features 1920×1080 (1080p) resolution. The IHS teardown also showed that the unique Edge curved display screen costs $85, about $24 more than the display for the regular version of the S6. Furthermore, when compared with the iPhone 6 Plus, the display on the Galaxy S6 Edge is more than double the cost of the TFT/IPS display and touchscreen on the iPhone 6 Plus, which IHS estimated at $41 in November 2014.

Predominantly Samsung Silicon

The S6 Edge features predominantly Samsung silicon, but there are several variations of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge that also feature Samsung modem chips rather than those from Qualcomm found in the Verizon sample torn down by IHS. “There are other versions of the S6 sold by different carriers in different markets that do not use the Qualcomm chip set. We have procured another model so we can compare the models and look at the cost differences,” Rassweiler said.

The apps processor in the Edge torn down by IHS is a Samsung Octa-Core, 64-Bit, built in 14nm, and is one of the first (but not only) 14nm processors the IHS team has seen, with a cost of $29.50. The baseband integrated circuit (IC) is a Qualcomm MDM9653M multi-mode baseband processor, which has an estimated cost of $15.

The NAND memory is a Samsung (KLUCG8G1BD), 64GB UFS NAND, PoP, and the DRAM is a Samsung (K3RG3G30MM-DGCH), 3GB LPDDR4, PoP.

“Package on Package” Reduces Size

“This is the first time we have seen NAND Flash memory in package-on-package (PoP) format. In this case the flash memory is mounted directly on top of the Qualcomm MDM9653M processor. That’s usually something we have only seen when DRAM memory is placed on top of the applications processor,” Rassweiler said. “‘PoP packaging is used to reduce the overall footprint, and in this case is being used in more than one place in the design.

“It also is our first sighting in all teardowns of mobile (low power) DDR4 DRAM,” he added. “The iPhone 6 employs 1GB of Mobile DDR3 by comparison while 3GB of DDR3 DRAM has been a predominant configuration in several flagship Android phones in the last year.”

Regarding the RF/PA components in the Edge, Rassweiler said that both Apple and Samsung have focused much attention to integrating various radio frequency modules. “This integration is being done to help reduce the number of different SKUs needed to support multiple wireless operators worldwide,” Rassweiler said. “The approach to support multiple wireless operators with, ideally, a single model has been a big part of the LTE design efforts by both Apple and Samsung.”

A*STAR’s Institute of Microelectronics (IME), together with Amkor Technologies, NANIUM, STATS ChipPAC, NXP Semiconductors, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Kulicke & Soffa, Applied Materials, Inc., Dipsol Chemicals, JSR Corporation, KLA-Tencor, Kingyoup Optronics, Orbotech and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo have formed a High-Density Fan-Out Wafer Level Packaging (FOWLP) consortium to extend FOWLP capabilities for applications in devices such as smart phones, tablets, navigation tools and gaming consoles.

These devices call for application processors with greater system capabilities such as increased memory and bandwidth, as well as faster processing speed to support myriad demanding applications and functions, while consuming low power. At the same time, the sheer market volume1 for such devices necessitates system cost reduction.

FOWLP is a low-cost packaging technology for system scaling which enables multiple chips to be integrated in a small form factor on a single package. However, the adoption of conventional FOWLP technology for high performance, multi-functional devices is being challenged by pin-count density of a few hundreds of I/Os per device package. These limitations have a direct impact on its capability to support increased system requirements and performance.

The consortium aims to provide solutions to overcome these limitations. It will develop a High-Density FOWLP test vehicle capable of supporting thousands of I/Os and characterising the package for die shift, die protrusion and wafer warpage analysis that will enable system scaling for smartphones and mobile tablets. Concurrently, tight wiring to accommodate increased pin counts using fine pitch multi-layer redistribution layer technology will be demonstrated for large area FOWLP while maintaining its signal/power integrity and reliability.

“System integration is necessary to enable diverse functionalities with high performance in future applications across a wide spectrum of industries including computing and networking, healthcare, consumer electronics, transport and automotive. With the High-Density Fan-Out Wafer Level Packaging consortium, IME continues to add to its portfolio of advanced packaging platforms so as to provide wide-ranging solutions for the continued evolution and different needs of complex and demanding devices,” said Prof. Dim-Lee Kwong, Executive Director of IME.

“Amkor is pleased to participate in the High-Density FOWLP consortium to help accelerate the adoption of this next-generation package platform technology. As a leader in the space, working to drive packaging and test technologies forward is one of our core objectives. We expect advanced platforms like High-Density FOWLP to become the prevailing packaging format for much of the advanced integration market, including mobile and high performance products,” said Mr. Ron Huemoeller, Senior Vice President, Advanced Product & Technology Development, IP of Amkor Technology, Inc.

“Market applications will always be our industry’s main drivers,” commented Mr. Armando Tavares, President of the Executive Board at NANIUM. “In times of More-than-Moore, I/Os requirements have been increasing steadily, as they translate into higher integration, improved performance, minimal form-factor and cost-effectiveness. The development of High-Density Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging technology represents a step towards fine-pitch multi-layer redistribution, which in turn will allow us to build higher-density structures. These will significantly increase the amount of interconnects enabled by FOWLP, turning this technology into an IC packaging platform for chip-to-chip interconnect with a higher I/O and at a competitive cost.

NANIUM regards IME’s initiative of creating a consortium as a very insightful one. Through the combination of our know-how and manufacturing capabilities with IME’s technology development expertise, we will surely contribute to the development of our FOWLP technology roadmap, to the benefit of our customers.”

“High-Density Wafer-Level Fan-Out Packaging technology enables advanced system scaling for form factor limited and cost challenged applications,” said Mr. Ramakanth Alapati, Director of Package Architecture and Customer Technology at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. “GLOBALFOUNDRIES appreciates IME’s effort to identify robust solutions needed for a cost-effective high volume manufacturing approach to wafer level packaging.”

“The strong collection of companies who have joined the consortium and our shared commitment to expanding the capabilities of FOWLP reflects the promising value of this technology for a wide range of high performance applications. This collaboration will accelerate the important development activities we have been focusing on such as ultra thin package profiles, finer line/space widths down to 2μm/2μm and multi-layer redistribution in order to achieve smart system integration at a lower cost for our customers,” said Dr. Han Byung Joon, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, STATS ChipPAC.

“This consortium has members from the entire supply chain, and with the combined experience and knowledge of all the members, the solution developed will be industry leading and targeted for high volume manufacturing benefiting the industry as a whole,” said Mr. Cheam Tong Liang, Vice President, Advanced Packaging Business Line & Corporate Strategy of Kulicke & Soffa.

Integrated Device Technology, Inc. today announced that Robert A. Rango, a former Broadcom Corp. executive with extensive leadership skills in the global semiconductor market, has been appointed to IDT’s Board of Directors, effective April 6, 2015.

“Bob brings significant operating and leadership skills and has successfully run businesses in the mobile, wireless and network infrastructure segment,” said IDT Board Chairman John Schofield. “His executive experience in the global semiconductor industry is invaluable, and we are looking forward to Bob’s contributions as a member of our Board.”

“As anyone following IDT closely knows, this is an exciting time to join the company,” Rango said. “I look forward to working with my fellow board members in supporting IDT’s executive team as it works hard to deliver strong financial results and leading technology to its investors and customers.”

Rango joined Broadcom in March 2002 and served in executive roles for over 12 years, most recently as executive vice president and general manager of Broadcom’s Mobile and Wireless Group, a role he had held since February 2011. During his time at Broadcom, Rango held several senior management positions in the company’s Network Infrastructure Business Unit, Mobile and Wireless Group and Wireless Connectivity Group, including as senior vice president and general manager, Wireless Connectivity Group and as executive vice president and general manager, Wireless Connectivity Group. From 1995 to 2002, Rango held several senior management positions at Lucent Microelectronics and Agere Systems.

Rango also serves on the Board of Directors at KLA-Tencor. He has an MEEE from Cornell University and a BSEE from State University of New York at Stony Brook.