Infineon emphasizes power, China in 'new start'

LONDON — Infineon Technologies AG (Munich, Germany) is set to drive itself forward by focusing on power semiconductors and the Chinese market, according to the text of speech given to shareholders by CEO Peter Bauer.

In the speech to shareholders at Infineon's annual general meeting, Bauer consistently mentioned power first and foremost as a market where Infineon leads and which can produce above average market growth.

In terms of geography, Bauer referenced Infineon's position in China as key to progress. "China in particular came out of the economic crisis much faster than other countries and is setting the pace for the global upswing. In the Chinese economic stimulus program there are plans for multi-billion investments in renewable energy sources and expansion of the infrastructure. China aspires to a leading role in wind and solar energy. The expansion of the railway network and train fleet is in full swing. With our strong position in power semiconductors, we can benefit greatly from this development," he said.

Overall Infineon will achieve more than 20 percent growth in 2010, Bauer predicted in the text. He outlined a bleak year immediately passed, but one in which Infineon, and the industry, had responded quickly to a general crisis. The separation from the memory business, and its closure, and the sale of the wire-line business to form Lantiq had been major but necessary steps that now set Infineon up for a new beginning, he said.

"For the semiconductor market, the researchers predict clear double-digit growth rates in 2010. On the basis of this assumption and by virtue of our leading market positions worldwide, solid customer relations and leaner company line-up, we should be able to substantially increase revenues and results," Bauer said in the text of his speech. "We now anticipate a year-on-year growth in revenues in excess of 20 percent — more than doubling our original forecast. Automotive and Industrial & Multimarket will achieve particularly high growth. Wireless Solutions and Chip Card & Security will also post continued growth," he added.

The company now has four business lines power, automotive & industrial, wireless communications and security & ID. Bauer said Infineon is the right size in three of those four business lines and leads the market in power, automotive and security. "The wireless division ranks at number four. Here we have successfully extended our business relationships in a vendor market which is undergoing consolidation. However we must and we will increase our market share by further project wins," Bauer said in the text of his speech.

Bauer said that Infineon already generates half its revenues in Asia and that it would expand operations in China. "We will extend our production in Wuxi where we run a chip packaging plant. And just a fortnight ago we signed a letter of intent with the Peking government to establish a another development center — our fourth in China — in Yizhuan, an industrial park in Peking, where we intend to pursue application development for state-sponsored industries of the future, such as automotive, wind energy and mobile communications.

Bauer said Infineon would not be relocating complete European plants to Asia but that expansion of production capacity would take place in Asia as the company continues to shift towards outsourcing manufacturing to silicon foundries.