News & Analysis
London Calling: Who is NXP Software?
Peter Clarke
10/10/2012 4:00 AM EDT
Software under hardware?
NXP Software is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NXP Semiconductors NV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) best known as a vendor of high-performance mixed-signal ICs for RF, analog, power management and security applications.
While it can be seen that the legacy of NXP Software goes back to the glory days of Philips as a leader in consumer multimedia it does seem to sit slightly at odds with the main thrust of NXP's much-reorganized chip business. The chip business has steadily withdrawn from large parts of the consumer electronics business where margins had become thin.
You may remember that in 2008 NXP transferred its mobile ICs business to what has become the ST-Ericsson NV subsidiary of STMicrolectronics NV. And in 2010 NXP announced it would exchange its television and set-top-box IC businesses for a 60 percent stake in Trident Microsystems. NXP eventually wrote down the value of its holding from a book value of $18 million at the end of the third quarter of 2011 to zero at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. At the end of 2010 NXP sold of its Sound Solutions business to the Knowles Elecronics subsidiary of Dover Corp. for $855 million. Sound Solutions is a manufacturer of speakers and microphones for cell phones and other consumer electronics. All together this was a significant down-sizing and turning away from consumer electronics.
So it can be seen that NXP Software drives in a slightly different direction to NXP Semiconductors. Is that why NXP Software now basks in the glory of its own website www.nxpsoftware.com?
But it doesn't explain why explicit mention of NXP Software was omitted from an NXP Semiconductors company presentation from July 2012. Does it make sense for these two entities to go forward together or could another sell-off make sense?
Related links and articles:
ST, NXP merge wireless businesses
NXP writes off Trident holding
NXP sells off sound division for $855 million
NXP Software is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NXP Semiconductors NV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) best known as a vendor of high-performance mixed-signal ICs for RF, analog, power management and security applications.
While it can be seen that the legacy of NXP Software goes back to the glory days of Philips as a leader in consumer multimedia it does seem to sit slightly at odds with the main thrust of NXP's much-reorganized chip business. The chip business has steadily withdrawn from large parts of the consumer electronics business where margins had become thin.
You may remember that in 2008 NXP transferred its mobile ICs business to what has become the ST-Ericsson NV subsidiary of STMicrolectronics NV. And in 2010 NXP announced it would exchange its television and set-top-box IC businesses for a 60 percent stake in Trident Microsystems. NXP eventually wrote down the value of its holding from a book value of $18 million at the end of the third quarter of 2011 to zero at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. At the end of 2010 NXP sold of its Sound Solutions business to the Knowles Elecronics subsidiary of Dover Corp. for $855 million. Sound Solutions is a manufacturer of speakers and microphones for cell phones and other consumer electronics. All together this was a significant down-sizing and turning away from consumer electronics.
So it can be seen that NXP Software drives in a slightly different direction to NXP Semiconductors. Is that why NXP Software now basks in the glory of its own website www.nxpsoftware.com?
But it doesn't explain why explicit mention of NXP Software was omitted from an NXP Semiconductors company presentation from July 2012. Does it make sense for these two entities to go forward together or could another sell-off make sense?
Related links and articles:
ST, NXP merge wireless businesses
NXP writes off Trident holding
NXP sells off sound division for $855 million
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iniewski
10/10/2012 12:01 PM EDT
Sounds they are about to split
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