Silterra's strategy for success: Q&A with Steve Della Rocchetta, EVP, Silterra, part two

By Chris Hall

DigiTimes.com, Taipei

Thursday 29 December 2005)

URL: PDF version  

Despite the attractions of the fabless-plus-foundry model, any foundry hoping to compete in an industry dominated by the likes of UMC and TSMC will need to think carefully about its strategy. In the case of Silterra, whose production facility is located in the Kulim High-Tech Park, Malaysia, the strategy combines carefully timed moves to deep submicron with the cultivation of mass-market customers. The result is financial stability after troubled times in the semiconductor industry, and strategic relationships that include a partnership with Taiwan design-service house Goyatek. Silterra is also involved in a joint development project with IMEC in Europe. According to Steve Della Rocchetta, EVP, Sales and Marketing, Silterra is going into 2006 with optimism.

DigiTimes.com spoke recently with Della Rocchetta about Silterra's strategy, technology and prospects. This interview also includes contributions from Koh Meng Kong (MK), director of Marketing for Silterra in Asia.

This is Part II of a three-part interview. Part I appeared on 28 December. Part III will follow on 30 December.

Q: A partnership with Taiwan design-service house Goyatek was announced in September. Through this partnership, Goyatek is able to provide ASIC/turnkey services for production utilizing 0.18- and 0.13-micron CMOS processes. In addition to design and IP service, according to press releases, Goyatek is able to provide complete SoC design support. Can you outline how the partnership with Goyatek will work?

A: Goyatek is an outstanding design-service company. They are among the top design-service houses in Taiwan. They've been around for quite a while, and they really are experts in design integration and execution. Naturally, we're really excited about the opportunity to work with them. We expect to see significant activities in 2006, as they leverage their expertise combined with our key competence, which is TSMC-matched process technologies in the logic and mixed-signal area, as well as RF. We expect to see product tape-outs from Goyatek during 2006.

This is a business-to-business relationship. It is mutually beneficial to develop customers jointly. While they are well known in Taiwan, they also have an office in Silicon Valley. We expect to leverage our relationship with Goyatek on both sides of the Pacific.

If you look at our business today, it is mostly based on customer-owned-tooling (COT), and it is typically multisourced. But we're the primary source for a significant portion of prototypes that are coming through the pipeline. That's the profile that we are planning to move to, and we are hoping that Goyatek will enable us to get to that point faster.

Q: Do you have any comments on the EDA side and what Goyatek can deliver? I understand their capability includes RTL sign-off, floor planning and physical synthesis, DFT and IP design.

A: I don't have a lot of comment, other than that they are supporting a virtual-ASIC business model and the capability to do all the things that you indicated. Goyatek is known to be very strong in back-end design service, so we will be able to leverage our relationship in that area also.

Q: Does the partnership with Goyatek represent any form of alliance or cooperative relationship with TSMC?

A: The answer to that is no. We provide TSMC-matched technologies. We believe that people want to buy a standard technology, and TSMC-based process technologies are the No. 1 process technologies in the world today. Strategically, that's the camp we have chosen to be part of.

Q: According to the Silterra website, your foundry has particular specialties in standard CMOS logic, highvoltage, mixed-signal and RF technologies. Does the alliance with Goyatek enable expansion of Silterra's technology portfolio beyond these particular areas?

A: No, we aren't looking to expand beyond those particular specialties. Those are the four legs of the stool, so to speak, and I think that Goyatek will leverage their design offerings and their service offerings around those technologies. So no, I don't think you'll be seeing us straying beyond what we think are strategic focuses.

Q: Presumably Silterra's RF and mixed-signal devices are being fabricated in CMOS process. Is this correct, or is Silterra also implementing compound-semiconductor devices?

A: We will not be pursuing compound technologies, simply because we want to address very large mass markets. Our strategy from Day 1 was not to hide in any niche technology but rather take on the larger sectors of the market and the technologies that serve those. That is why we chose CMOS logic and mixed-signal for the mass markets. Again, if you look at 1- or 2- or 3% of a very large mass market, that's a lot of business for us.

In fact, we're seeing single-chip RF-CMOS designs that used to be implemented in compound technology such as silicon germanium. For example, we had a design win recently where a customer was considering using SiGe technology and instead decided to use our RF-CMOS technology. So no, we're extremely unlikely to go into those areas.

Q: Are there any other silicon technologies you might adopt, such as strained silicon or silicon on insulator (SOI)?

A: It's unlikely, except perhaps for 65-nanometer and below. We are going to stay with technologies that serve the mass markets.


About Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.:

Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is a leading semiconductor wafer foundry that provides advanced foundry standard CMOS logic, high-voltage and mixed-signal/RF technologies. The company’s wafer fab has a designed capacity of 38,000 eight-inch wafers per month. Silterra, which is committed to world-class service and environmental friendliness, received Notable Mention in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Hibiscus Award competition for Environmental Performance in 2003. The company is ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certified. Silterra’s headquarters and factory are located in Kulim, Malaysia, and has offices in San Jose (California), Scottsdale (Arizona) and Hsinchu (Taiwan). For additional information on Silterra or its services, please visit www.silterra.com.