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Intersil aiming to Charge Ahead in Power Management

March 27, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

Intersil Corporation announced plans to leverage the company's deep technology portfolio and strong track record of innovation to focus on power management solutions for applications ranging from cloud computing to mobile devices. Under new management, Intersil returned to profitability, and successfully aligned its business to address the power management market. The company's renewed focus sets the stage for Intersil to bring the next wave of products to market addressing the most challenging power management issues in systems today, including efficiency, battery life, reliability and intelligence.

"When I joined Intersil in March of 2013, it was with a great deal of optimism given the strong heritage and technical capability of the company," said president and CEO Necip Sayiner. "On my first anniversary as CEO, I am extremely proud of what our employees have accomplished in a very short time. By putting the company on sound financial footing and then concentrating our efforts on strategic areas where we have highly differentiated technology, we are positioning Intersil to become a leader in the next generation of power."

Intersil is leveraging a deep portfolio of intellectual property, and a history of design and process innovation, to enable the industry's highest performance, most efficient, easy-to-use, and consistently reliable power management IC solutions. The company is uniquely positioned to bring a number of key technologies to the $10 billion power management market. For example, Intersil is targeting the estimated $6 billion opportunity with existing and new products designed specifically to help extend battery life in mobile devices. The ISL911xx buck-boost switching regulators, also announced today, are one of several key building blocks that will enable further integration for advanced power management IC solutions that address the increasing power demands of smartphones and tablets.

Intersil is also applying its industry-leading digital power technology to address the power challenges in industrial and infrastructure markets, which represent an estimated $2.6 billion opportunity. Intersil introduced its fourth generation digital power platform at the end of 2013, offering best-in-class technology ideal for computing and communications infrastructure. Intersil is bringing digital power to customers in a module form factor as well, introducing today the ISL8270M/71M product family, the most compact, reliable and easy-to-use digital power modules available.

"Many of Intersil's focus target markets and strategic products are shaping up to be future revenue growth drivers," said Tore Svanberg, managing director and senior semiconductor analyst at Stifel Nicholas. Key markets benefiting from Intersil's innovative power management technology include:

Wired and Wireless Infrastructure: Due to the explosion of cloud-based applications and data sharing, and the resulting increase in data traffic, there is a global build-out of network and data infrastructure. This power hungry equipment requires advanced power management. Intersil's comprehensive portfolio of dc-dc controller and analog and digital power module solutions are designed to provide best-in-class efficiency and power density, enabling lower cost equipment and maintenance.

Mobile: The power management requirements of mobile devices are becoming more complex as consumers demand more functionality and longer battery life from their smartphones and tablets. Using power management techniques that have been refined in the microprocessor space, Intersil is uniquely positioned to provide highly efficient and highly integrated solutions that increase the battery life in a single, compact, low-profile form factor.

Industrial: Intersil offers a comprehensive set of digital and analog controllers, power modules and switching regulators. Highly integrated and efficient, these products simplify power design for a wide variety of industrial applications, including the smart home and smart grid, test and measurement systems, medical devices and factory automation.

Automotive: The electrification of the automobile represents one of the most significant opportunities for semiconductors. Intersil has invested in key technologies to address the latest video requirements for infotainment as well as emerging battery and power management applications for hybrid and electric vehicles.

Aerospace: Intersil's products can be found in virtually every satellite shipped into space. Intersil has an unparalleled track record of providing highly reliable, efficient and accurate radiation hardened power products that achieve the stringent voltage accuracy required for harsh environments.