Gyro vendor InvenSense files IPO

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- InvenSense Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.), a provider of motion processing solutions or gyroscopes, has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Piper Jaffray & Co., Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. and ThinkEquity LLC are acting as co-managers for the offering.

Steven Nasiri is the founder of InvenSense and has served as its president, CEO and chairman since its inception in 2003. Prior to founding InvenSense, Nasiri held various positions as a co-founder and executive of several MEMS companies.

As of March 28, 2010, InvenSense's total headcount was 165. ''The foundation of our MotionProcessing solution is our patented Nasiri-Fabrication process, which combines MEMS on CMOS (also known as CMOS-MEMS) in a small, cost-effective standard package,'' according to the filing. In 2009, it began shipping its ISZ family of Z single-axis analog gyroscopes, IXZ family of X-Z dual-axis analog gyroscopes and ITG family of X-Y-Z three-axis digital output gyroscopes.

''We consider our competitors to include Analog Devices, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Epson Toyocom Corp., Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Kionix, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohm Co., Ltd.), Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Sony Corporation, and STMicroelectronics N.V. (STMicro). Currently, we believe STMicro is our primary competitor in the consumer motion sensing market,'' according to the filing.

InvenSense's revenue was $7.8 million, $29.0 million and $79.6 million for fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively, according to the filing. InvenSense lost $6.9 million in 2008, but it had a profit of $196,000 in 2009 and a profit of $15.1 million in 2010, respectively, according to the filing.

Nintendo was its largest customer in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, incorporating our motion sensing dual-axis gyroscope into its Wii MotionPlus accessory, according ot the filing. Nintendo represented 85 percent of its sales in 2010.

The fabless company uses various foundries, including Dalsa, Seiko Epson, TSMC and Touch Micro-Systems Technology. ''The MEMS foundry typically performs the critical wafer level bonding step of the Nasiri-Fabrication process and will deliver the final combined CMOS-MEMS wafer product to us,'' according to the firm.

''We currently outsource our packaging operations to Hana Microelectronics Group, and Lingsen Precision Industries, Limited. The assembled products are then forwarded for final calibration and outgoing functionality test, primarily at our wholly owned subsidiary in Hsinchu, Taiwan, prior to shipping to our customers,'' according to the firm.