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bgsf188
hey, is renesas still there ? It is sad, I dealt with them so many times and ...
mmmmh
Just a remind to KKR and KKR's investors, following company is also grabbing ...
Renesas president won't quit, lays out priorities
Junko Yoshida
8/29/2012 1:22 PM EDT
SoC business -- low return on investment
Akao made it clear that Renesas no longer regards its SoC business as the company’s core. “We are not going to get engaged in a business whose risk in ROI (return on investment) is too high,” said Akao.
“Unlike microcontrollers or power semiconductors, SoC requires enormous R&D, and yet, its probability to make a lasting impact on the company’s bottom line is very low,” he explained. Reneas will be folding its home multimedia – digital audio, digital video – operation, he said.
The exception to the rule for Renesas' to-be-discontinued SoC business is chips designed for social infrastructure, Akao added. "Such SoCs have a much longer product life, and we plan to continue that business."
When asked whether the company’s SoC business – if spun off – might incorporate Renesas Mobile, Akao said the issue is undecided. “While we believe the potential of Renesas Mobile’s business is very high and it can surely stand on its own if given enough time, we need to be flexible on our decision depending on the circumstances.”
As for the company’s plan for fab sales or fab reductions, Akao noted the overall plan to complete it within the next three years. Some fab sales could happen within the next 12 months.
To the suggestion that Renesas’ renewed focus on MCU and power/analog semiconductors looks much like Infinenon’s business strategy, Akao said, “It happens to turn out that way.” The similarity is not necessarily by design, he implied. While automotive continues to be an important market for Renesas’ MCU business, Akao envisions Renesas playing a critical role in what he calls the “smart society.” Whether in factory automation, smart grids, or smart buildings, MCUs, analog and power semiconductors will be indispensable to support any of those systems in the social infrastructure, Akao explained. Just as developing nations completely leapfrogged the wired telecommunication build-out to embrace wireless infrastructure, Akao is convinced that these nations are likely to jump straight to the smart society. “They don’t need to wait two decades to start building the smart society.”
Assumptions made back in 2010
Looking back, Akao said that he put together a merger/integration plan for Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics based on a number of assumptions. The merged Renesas Technology/NEC Electronics got at that time 50 percent of revenue from Japan and 50 percent from abroad. “We assumed then that the Japanese domestic market, although not growing, would not shrink so rapidly,” he said. “With that assumption in mind, our plan was to grow our overseas market quickly by focusing on China, India and Brazil.” Akao’s first 100-day plan called for the merged company to grow about 7 percent in revenue. Akao also hatched a plan to go after emerging market for chips and components required by the smart society.
Before the company was able to complete the full integration of Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics, Renesas was devastated by the earthquake in northern Japan on March 11, 2011. While no president could be possibly prepared for such a disaster, Akao made the most of that challenging time to pull the company together, win the trust of its foreign customers (by playing no favorites) and embarked on the building of a “fab network” that involves Renesas actively seeking more foundries to fab the company’s chips.
Further unexpected in 2011 was that this was the year when the Japanese domestic consumer electronics industry – which initially looked as though making a slight recovery after the 2008 global financial turmoil – went into free-fall.
By August, 2011, Akao decided to accelerate more structural changes at Renesas. The plan called for reducing the SoC business and slashing the company’s internal chip production. However, Renesas still held some hope to pull off its restructuring plan using its own cash.
At the end of 2011, catastrophic floods in Thailand hit the hard disk drive industry and drove the last nail into Renesas’ coffin. Renesas suffered rapid declines in chip sales. The euro crisis started to affect the Chinese economy as well.
Renesas’ revenue for fiscal 2011 ending in March fell to 883 billion yen (US$11 billion), a 22% drop from the previous year. About 55 billion yen of the decline in sales was directly attributable to the quake, according to Renesas. The operating loss was 56.8 billion yen, a large drop from FY2010's operating income of 14.5 billion yen. The company recorded a net loss of 62.6 billion yen, almost half that of the previous year's figure, which included a special loss of 65.5 billion yen for the damage of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Despite all these uncontrollable disasters, the hard reality is that Akao will be challenged about whether he should stay to steer Renesas’ future.
Asked what grade he would give himself as a president, Akao drily said with a hint of ironic smile: “We have not been profitable for the last seven years. The answer is obvious.”
Asked if Renesas should have thought of going for a much more drastic fab-lite or fabless plan long ago, like NXP and Freescale, Akao said that he could not speak of the management decision the company made before he became president. Asked further if he believes that any Japan-specific cultural or social issues played a role in slowing Renesas’ changes, Akao said he didn’t think so. He refused to play the usual “Japan-is-unique” card. While acknowledging that different social settings or circumstances could impact how individuals deal with losing jobs, Akao appears to believe that shouldn’t be used as an excuse to explain Renesas’ misfortune.
But there is one thing Akao emphatically noted during the interview.
While he declined to answer what surprises Akao -- a long-time engineer -- may have encountered after he became president, he discussed the supply chain. “Until I became the president, I had not recognized the genuine significance and responsibility for being a semiconductor supplier.”
The earthquake certainly crystalized that thought in his mind. “It wasn’t just auto makers, which was most obvious, but a number of others industries – including those in the business of building elevators and constructing condominiums, for example – got panicky when they thought that they might not be able to get enough MCUs.”
Akao said, “Beyond achievements in financial performance, which is absolutely important, I recognized for the first time what a significant responsibility a chip company bears to keep different industries in different countries humming.”
Related links and articles:
KKR said to target Renesas with $1.27 billion bid
Report: TSMC's Chang says no to buying Renesas fab
White knight or asset stripper?
Renesas seeks $620 million from KKR, says report
Renesas cuts 14,000 jobs; fab sale to TSMC
Report: Renesas Mobile up for sale in re-org
Renesas extends MCU work with TSMC to 40-nm
Reports: Renesas to tie up with TSMC, cut jobs
Renesas: A three-horn dilemma with a three-prong solution
Post quake: 'The finest hour' of Renesas and the industry
Akao made it clear that Renesas no longer regards its SoC business as the company’s core. “We are not going to get engaged in a business whose risk in ROI (return on investment) is too high,” said Akao.
“Unlike microcontrollers or power semiconductors, SoC requires enormous R&D, and yet, its probability to make a lasting impact on the company’s bottom line is very low,” he explained. Reneas will be folding its home multimedia – digital audio, digital video – operation, he said.
The exception to the rule for Renesas' to-be-discontinued SoC business is chips designed for social infrastructure, Akao added. "Such SoCs have a much longer product life, and we plan to continue that business."
When asked whether the company’s SoC business – if spun off – might incorporate Renesas Mobile, Akao said the issue is undecided. “While we believe the potential of Renesas Mobile’s business is very high and it can surely stand on its own if given enough time, we need to be flexible on our decision depending on the circumstances.”
As for the company’s plan for fab sales or fab reductions, Akao noted the overall plan to complete it within the next three years. Some fab sales could happen within the next 12 months.
To the suggestion that Renesas’ renewed focus on MCU and power/analog semiconductors looks much like Infinenon’s business strategy, Akao said, “It happens to turn out that way.” The similarity is not necessarily by design, he implied. While automotive continues to be an important market for Renesas’ MCU business, Akao envisions Renesas playing a critical role in what he calls the “smart society.” Whether in factory automation, smart grids, or smart buildings, MCUs, analog and power semiconductors will be indispensable to support any of those systems in the social infrastructure, Akao explained. Just as developing nations completely leapfrogged the wired telecommunication build-out to embrace wireless infrastructure, Akao is convinced that these nations are likely to jump straight to the smart society. “They don’t need to wait two decades to start building the smart society.”
Assumptions made back in 2010
Looking back, Akao said that he put together a merger/integration plan for Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics based on a number of assumptions. The merged Renesas Technology/NEC Electronics got at that time 50 percent of revenue from Japan and 50 percent from abroad. “We assumed then that the Japanese domestic market, although not growing, would not shrink so rapidly,” he said. “With that assumption in mind, our plan was to grow our overseas market quickly by focusing on China, India and Brazil.” Akao’s first 100-day plan called for the merged company to grow about 7 percent in revenue. Akao also hatched a plan to go after emerging market for chips and components required by the smart society.
Before the company was able to complete the full integration of Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics, Renesas was devastated by the earthquake in northern Japan on March 11, 2011. While no president could be possibly prepared for such a disaster, Akao made the most of that challenging time to pull the company together, win the trust of its foreign customers (by playing no favorites) and embarked on the building of a “fab network” that involves Renesas actively seeking more foundries to fab the company’s chips.
Further unexpected in 2011 was that this was the year when the Japanese domestic consumer electronics industry – which initially looked as though making a slight recovery after the 2008 global financial turmoil – went into free-fall.
By August, 2011, Akao decided to accelerate more structural changes at Renesas. The plan called for reducing the SoC business and slashing the company’s internal chip production. However, Renesas still held some hope to pull off its restructuring plan using its own cash.
At the end of 2011, catastrophic floods in Thailand hit the hard disk drive industry and drove the last nail into Renesas’ coffin. Renesas suffered rapid declines in chip sales. The euro crisis started to affect the Chinese economy as well.
Renesas’ revenue for fiscal 2011 ending in March fell to 883 billion yen (US$11 billion), a 22% drop from the previous year. About 55 billion yen of the decline in sales was directly attributable to the quake, according to Renesas. The operating loss was 56.8 billion yen, a large drop from FY2010's operating income of 14.5 billion yen. The company recorded a net loss of 62.6 billion yen, almost half that of the previous year's figure, which included a special loss of 65.5 billion yen for the damage of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Renesas quarterly financial results
Source: Renesas Electronics
Despite all these uncontrollable disasters, the hard reality is that Akao will be challenged about whether he should stay to steer Renesas’ future.
Asked what grade he would give himself as a president, Akao drily said with a hint of ironic smile: “We have not been profitable for the last seven years. The answer is obvious.”
Asked if Renesas should have thought of going for a much more drastic fab-lite or fabless plan long ago, like NXP and Freescale, Akao said that he could not speak of the management decision the company made before he became president. Asked further if he believes that any Japan-specific cultural or social issues played a role in slowing Renesas’ changes, Akao said he didn’t think so. He refused to play the usual “Japan-is-unique” card. While acknowledging that different social settings or circumstances could impact how individuals deal with losing jobs, Akao appears to believe that shouldn’t be used as an excuse to explain Renesas’ misfortune.
But there is one thing Akao emphatically noted during the interview.
While he declined to answer what surprises Akao -- a long-time engineer -- may have encountered after he became president, he discussed the supply chain. “Until I became the president, I had not recognized the genuine significance and responsibility for being a semiconductor supplier.”
The earthquake certainly crystalized that thought in his mind. “It wasn’t just auto makers, which was most obvious, but a number of others industries – including those in the business of building elevators and constructing condominiums, for example – got panicky when they thought that they might not be able to get enough MCUs.”
Akao said, “Beyond achievements in financial performance, which is absolutely important, I recognized for the first time what a significant responsibility a chip company bears to keep different industries in different countries humming.”
Related links and articles:
KKR said to target Renesas with $1.27 billion bid
Report: TSMC's Chang says no to buying Renesas fab
White knight or asset stripper?
Renesas seeks $620 million from KKR, says report
Renesas cuts 14,000 jobs; fab sale to TSMC
Report: Renesas Mobile up for sale in re-org
Renesas extends MCU work with TSMC to 40-nm
Reports: Renesas to tie up with TSMC, cut jobs
Renesas: A three-horn dilemma with a three-prong solution
Post quake: 'The finest hour' of Renesas and the industry
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DMcCunney
8/29/2012 3:42 PM EDT
What I'm curious about is what KKR sees in Renanas that they think is worth a $1.2 billion investment. If they succeed in getting control, which way will they jump?
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junko.yoshida
8/29/2012 4:55 PM EDT
That's a good question, DMcCunney.
How about being in the number one MCU vendor in the world?
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Deviant
8/30/2012 4:08 PM EDT
Your shortsightedness amazes me. Do you want to catch a huge falling knife? Being #1 MCU vendor does not mean much, when the profitability for MCU is very small. Let me ask you this then, how do you explain being #1 and losing so much money. Their market share is eroding faster than ever.
It is simple. Akao and them are so stupid that KKR feels that anyone can turn the company around. HMN think so. Watch HMN and the main banks welcome KKR with an open arm.
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Aquarious
8/29/2012 4:06 PM EDT
Junko, you're such a smart and savvy reporter, I was hoping to see your analysis of the situation. Hint: I'm not quite buying Akao-san's refusal to blame any cultural and/or social reasons for the problem.
If the Fabless/Fab-lite question was handled earlier, Renasas may have had less debt on the balance sheet years ago, for example.
From leading the fabless supply chain in the eighties, Japan inc. has lost that fast growing segment, hands down, to TSMC and now others in the far east, as another example.
Inventories seem rather high, given a declining demand for the last two years.
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junko.yoshida
8/29/2012 4:46 PM EDT
I agree. Had Renesas opted for fab-lite, fabless strategies years ago, things would have been very different.
But Japan then was still believing in "manufacturing" stuff. And if there were one thing that could help differentiate themselves from others, they firmly believed in the vertical business model where they do everything from chip design to chip fabrication although it is largely discredited now.
Of course, that was then and it is now.
While Akao had been a proponent of fab-lite since he became the president of Renesas Electronics, two years ago, his decision made little impact on the company's bottom line because, well, it was too late.
Aquarious, the world is full of "could have's" and "would have's." It was clear to me while I was interviewing him on Wednesday, Akao-san chose to make no execuses or express no regrets, because he is still the president of Renesas.
But if the circumstances were different, he would have probably painted a different picture, especially when he was asked to look back on the company's strategy.
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Deviant
8/30/2012 4:12 PM EDT
What?
Are you for real? If Akao was the proponent of fab-lite, explain why he has not shut down any of more than 20 factories. It was the pressure from HMN. Do you even know what NEC executives told Akao? They told Akao to be more responsible. Akao was busy solidifying his position while forgetting that he needs to make a bottom line commitment to parent companies and the banks. Stop being so prejudicial to favor Akao.
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docdivakar
8/29/2012 4:16 PM EDT
@Junko: thanks for this report... I don't fully agree with what Mr. Akao has chosen for Renesas.
1. Consolidate the company’s current SoC business by stopping investment in R&D... this could end up becoming a big mistake in the long run. It is true SoC products take high R&D and instead of finding ways to reduce costs by optimizing 'processes' that he refers to, Renesas appears to be dumping it altogether. SoC's are also high margin products that fit very well with its “smart society” strategy. So I am a bit baffled!
2. Execute a Fab lite strategy... I would have thought this is where Renesas could spinoff or divest; it has already lost the game to Taiwan and other countries in front end and back end fabs.
3. While continuing to focus on the MCU business, expand the company’s analog/power business... this may work but it seems Renesas has blown the opportunity it had years ago in Power Semi. Only time will tell.
I don't envy Mr. Akao's position, he has to make some tough calls here.
MP Divakar
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junko.yoshida
8/29/2012 4:53 PM EDT
@docdivakar, thanks.
Actualy, you are spot on in your point #1. Akao himself said that this is a very nuanced area. It requires explanations on a granular level, he said.
There are SoCs and there are SoCs. The company IS interested in keeping SoCs that may help fuel its "smart society."
But the company is done with making SoCs for multimedia products such as DVD players and large-screen TVs. Those require a lot of investment in R&D (they need to build a platform and develop software on top of it)in their view.
Especially at a time when Japan's domestic CE industry is already flagging, there is no point of beating that dead horse.
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Brian Fuller2
8/29/2012 5:24 PM EDT
Great piece, Junko.
My take: The smart society push is THE application for the next 15 years (call it connected world, internet of things, whatever). It's the confluence of computing, communications and cognition (sensors). BUT, and this is a big but, semiconductor vendors will only get table scraps from this world if they focus just on the silicon.
The products have been completely system level, otherwise you end up selling 25-cent MCUs and continuing to sprint on the hamster wheel.
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Tatsuo Kobayashi
8/29/2012 9:50 PM EDT
Junko,
As a seasoned financial analyst, all I can say is, in his interview Akao sounds like a college chap who acknowledges that he has repeatedly got D and F grade (on the scale of A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D, F), but still wants us to believe that it is not bad all together and he is one of the best things that could have happened to the mankind! Instead of simply acknowledging that he and his management team (actually they are a bunch of veteran engineers and not managers) doesn't have the experience and capabilities of pulling out this sinking boat. Renesas has fallen into this mess because for the last 5 years these guys have failed to perform. Not only Akao, his predecessors were also non-performers. Let us look at Akao's priorities.
1. Reduce R&D spend
* Fine, but what will you have to sell tomorrow?
2. Execute a Fab lite strategy
* Who is going to buy those old fabs? They are counting on TSMC. Let me make one thing clear that TSMC is not buying their fabs. TSMC is a smart company, and they won't commit a mistake of buying old Japanese fabs. Does Akao has the guts to close down any of those fabs? It requires enormous strength as he needs to fight it out with local governments and labor unions. Unfortunately, he is not capable of this, but he still wants us to believe that he can pull this through like Mr. Ghosn or Nissan!
3. While continuing to focus on the MCU business, expand the company’s analog/power semiconductor business
* Sounds like a reasonable strategy on paper. But questions remains about how much he can actually execute with very limited R&D budget. In fact smart players like TI has already shifted their focus to analog/power business few years back.
4. Find a global market opportunity by fostering Renesas’ “smart society” strategy.
* Sounds vague to me. Did he talk about how much revenue / profits he can generate here in the next 5 years?
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Tatsuo Kobayashi
8/29/2012 9:51 PM EDT
Akao wants us to believe that the aforementioned points plus the 5,000 odd lay offs will change their fortune. Sorry, I cannot believe it. Let us look at revenue vs. employee strength for the following three companies.
Renesas: 10-12 Billion US$, 42,000+ people
TI: 13 Billion US$, 30,000+ people
Qualcomm: 15 Billion US$, 18,000+ people (don't forget that Qualcomm used to be a much smaller company than Renesas not very long back)
It is clear that Renesas simply has too many people for the revenue they are clocking. Asking 5,000 people to leave is not going to help much. In addition, keep in mind that Renesas workforce is old. As you would know, elderly people in Japanese companies draw good salaries but their productivity in general is very low.
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Tatsuo Kobayashi
8/29/2012 9:51 PM EDT
Akao may blame external factors for Renesas misfortunes. Other than the massive 2010 earthquake, I cannot agree with the other arguments. TI and Qualcomm are also operating in the same environment, but they have been able to survive and thrive. Renesas on the other hand has been perpetually at the losing end. Why? Because Akao and his team could not see what was coming in the market, and they were too lethargic to make bold moves. The entire company is paying price of their mis-deeds.
Akao may not want to step down right now, but let me tell you, if KKR deal goes through, he will be one of the first ones to lose his job. Because KKR is there to make money by turning around the company and they really do their job seriously unlike the current toxic management of Renesas.
As a native Japanese, I can understand that personally you may not be in favor of a Japanese company going into American hands. Your soft corner for Akao is very palpable in your article. However, it does not work in the real world. Under weak management, Renesas will either close down or will require bailouts and financial handouts every now and then to keep going. This is a hard reality!
As reporters, we need to see through things keeping our personal preferences aside, and call a spade a damn 'spade'!
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junko.yoshida
8/30/2012 9:38 AM EDT
Thanks for your detailed analysis here. I appreciate it. For many things you said above, I actually do agree with you.
Just to set the record straight, though, I actually don't care whether a Japanese company goes into American hands. That's not the point.
But I did feel the pain of letting go of the company which you had thought you could restore.
My objective in writing this story was to report what Mr. Akao had to say on Wednesday, Aug. 29th, 2013.
I am setting aside to do my own opinion and anaysis piece at another time.
But, Kobayashi-san, you are right. I am a softy. This was a bitter sweet interview.
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timemerchant
8/30/2012 10:00 PM EDT
Nice article. As for having an American CEO in Japan, look at Sony! Not a pretty picture right now. The 20-20 vision in the comments about Akao's performance don't reflect the problems in any merger, particularly with such disparate lines.
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WW Thinker
8/30/2012 1:03 PM EDT
If anything, Akao should be fired immediately. Before the merge two years ago, Renesas and NEC each has at least 3 micro-controller architectures developed in-house in the past. A year and a half later, they virtually kept all those, plus the ARM-based micro-controller which the internal management kept refusing to fully embrace (reason was obvious).
Many engineers and marketing people easily associate Infineon as significant players of discretes and analog products. How many engineers equate Renesas to well-known analog products? Does Renesas sell A/DC, power amplifier, buck converters, amplifier, LDO, ...? How many popular analog products does Renesas sell? Akao and a bunch of walllies inside Renesas are still in the mode of denials and refuse to do the right things quick!
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Luis Sanchez
8/30/2012 2:16 AM EDT
What a lecture this article is!
I didn't know about Renesas boat going through harsh waters. What happened?! They were the number one MCU vendors out there! Engineers and not managers in the top team?!
Fab-lite?! What is fab-lite?! Interesting! Will keep an eye in this boat.
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WW Thinker
8/30/2012 1:05 PM EDT
Please be careful with the #1. 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit? They are #1 today, but for how long? My crystal ball would say, not more than 7 years.
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BillGiovino
8/30/2012 5:44 PM EDT
From my observations, it appears that Renesas may not have a disciplined pricing strategy.
For example, as a result of all mergers Renesas has about a dozen different microcontroller architectures. Each MCU family is afraid of being obsoleted so it appears that MCU groups are pricing business at a loss - in many cases they may be competing against other Renesas MCUs!
It could be that the more they sell, the more they lose, so being #1 could drive them out of business.
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junko.yoshida
8/30/2012 7:18 PM EDT
Knowing Renesas stuck with so many product lines even in MCUs alone, you may be right about that.
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daleste
8/30/2012 11:59 PM EDT
Interesting position that Renesas is in. I hope they will be able to come out of it and keep running. The MCU business can be profitable, but it isn't easy. (I like the new picture, Junko)
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junko.yoshida
8/31/2012 8:55 AM EDT
Thanks, daleste.
Yes, the MCU business is a promising one, but as you say, it is not easy if you want to go beyond selling it to the usual suspects.
Akao-san also stressed the importance of the company's analog and powersemiconductor business. But Renesas isn't as well know as for that segment, when compared with others in the global market.
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junko.yoshida
8/30/2012 7:19 PM EDT
And here's my latest opinion piece on Renesas.
Free Renesas from its golden cage called Japan
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4395105/Free-Renesas-from-its-golden-cage-called-Japan
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casual3
8/31/2012 6:53 AM EDT
All of Akao's priorities are good moves: dump merchant SoC business, fab-lite, focus on MCU.
Problem is: those are reactive instead of pre-emptive moves.The wild card is the "smart society", but that one is too broad to quantify, need more concrete execution plan.
Japanese semiconductor companies are suffering because of 2 things:
1. demand side: Japan's economy is in a doldrum and Japanese CE companies are collapsing (used to be their biggest customers)
2. supply side: semiconductor industry as a whole is becoming commodity (will soon compete mostly on cost), and Japanese semi vendors have the worst cost structure, both in terms of gross margin and net margin. For gross margin, their designs are the most conservative, leading to larger dies and more power and larger packages and therefore cost more. For net margin, their R&D cost is much higher than their US counterparts because of the cultural differences (though both have high human cost), which leads to lower productivity than the US. Therefore, the US companies like Qualcomm and Broadcom can still reap huge profits (by aggressive design and higher productivity), even if their cost structure is higher than the asian fabless firms, while the Japanese is in the red.
Unless the above fundamentals can be changed, nothing could save Akao-san and Renesas.
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junko.yoshida
8/31/2012 9:00 AM EDT
casual3, a very insightful analysis here. I agree. I find your second point especially interesting..."agreesive design and higher productivity" would still allow Qualcomm and Broadcom to reap huge reap.
Why do you think Japanese semi vendors have the worst cost structure?
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PeterTan95
9/1/2012 2:05 AM EDT
i have used renesas chip for 6 years and another 6 years kicking them out in designs. I will tell you why renesas can become the number 1 mcu vendor. Because they sell at a loss.. when TI are selling their omap at 20-30 dollar. similar chip are being sold by renesas at 6-10 dollar (similar is a bit difficult to say as we cant compare line by line the datasheet)...they would sell a chip at more than half the price originally they quoted if some other vendor gives a lower price. They win the market by aggressive pricing.. not sure if they can really profit from this.
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kfishy
9/2/2012 12:44 AM EDT
It's funny that Mr. Akao mentioned the MCU business as the focus onwards, because Renesas has always seemed very schizophrenic w.r.t. the multiplicity of architectures it has to support. A big mistake, I think, is Renesas' failure to present a coherent upgrade path from legacy architectures to the newer ones (i.e. RX, RL78).
And if Renesas really wants to drive home the low-power, deeply embedded "smart society" concept, it should cut the cords to "performance" families like SuperH, still with 4.5V (!) processors under development. Granted, the automotive MCU market has unique needs, but geez, 42mA during sleep @ 80MHz would make even TI's C2000 blush.
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PeterTan95
9/3/2012 1:22 AM EDT
i agree with you on the smart society. SuperH wont be able to compete with parts from TI, freescale.
For automotive MCU, in the engine controller there is unique need. For Car radio/entertainment part, other than being automotive qualified, i think there is no much difference from consumer part.
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mmmmh
9/4/2012 4:42 AM EDT
Renesas had already been merged with NXP, hadn't it?
Please take a look at following spice models on their website, as provided with their power products customer respectively.
Renesas
http://am.renesas.com/media/products/discrete/pmosfet/simulation/rqj/rqj0303pgdqa.txt
NXP
http://www.nxp.com/documents/S-parameter/PMV31XN_29_03_2012.lib
Purely identical!
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mmmmh
9/4/2012 6:45 AM EDT
Just a remind to KKR and KKR's investors, following company is also grabbing intelligent asset from NXP semiconductor.
http://www.anvil-semi.co.uk/
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bgsf188
2/19/2013 6:57 PM EST
hey, is renesas still there ? It is sad, I dealt with them so many times and they had a great sense of pride. It was misplaced perhaps, but living in japan in the mid nineties we saw that everywhere!
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