Business Maxim at 30: CEO interview

Business Maxim at 30: CEO interview

2013/07/25

Maxim Integrated was founded 30 years ago and in an exclusive interview with the semiconductor manufacturer’s current CEO, Tunç Doluca, Richard Wilson learns about what has changed and what has stayed the same

Q: With analogue design increasingly important for many end-products (from smart meters to smartphones); what is the role of the analogue IC supplier in supporting the design engineer?

Tunç Doluca: The customers’ needs have changed. In the past, customers preferred to work with analogue component vendors; however today, they are seeking solutions partners. This is because time to market has become more critical and building equipment out of components takes more R&D and time.

Meanwhile, analogue companies have become quite familiar with how end equipment is designed and can translate this knowledge to design more highly integrated analogue and mixed-signal ICs. Customers have asked us to put the pieces together instead of just offering components for them to put together.

In many applications, we have begun integrating diverse analogue applications and putting them in a single package.

Q: From its early days 30 years ago, which aspects of Maxim’s business, technology and markets have changed?

Tunç Doluca: There are three things that Maxim has done to differentiate itself in analogue integration. Firstly, the company is organised by end market, not by technology. I believe this enables better collaboration and deeper systems understanding.

Secondly, the company has an intellectual property (IP) portfolio on a common process technology platform. We have decades of in-house analogue IP development, a shared platform process technology, and proven IP blocks which speed product development.

We have a flexible supply chain, better system understanding, and customer partnerships.

The company has changed its thinking about integration. We now see this is not only possible, but inevitable. We believe that those who follow this path will see stronger growth in the future.

Over time, we will do much more as we take analogue integration to new levels and to new markets.

Q: Which aspects have not changed in the last 30 years?

Tunç Doluca: We are still committed to the high-performance building blocks that made our name, focusing on high volume markets for high-performance, high-integration devices allows us to save space, power, design time and cost for our customers. This is a necessary part of our strategy because it is where we do most of our fundamental innovation.

Integration was in our blood as a company. For example, some of our early designs were integration plays:

Take the MAX232 interface chip that made a name for Maxim in the early years. It integrated two power supplies and multiple receivers and transmitters on a single chip to provide customers with an easy to use, single supply solution. Previously this took multiple components to implement. It is still in production after two decades.

First system level solution I designed was MAX782 for laptop computers. A couple months later, a second rev (and sister part) of this was created and called MAX786. This was the industry’s first high-integration, notebook power supply IC.

Q: If you had to choose one product from the last 30 years which characterises Maxim, which would it be?

Tunç Doluca: One of Maxim’s innovative achievements was the development of the MAX232, a single 5V-powered RS-232 line driver and receiver.

The MAX232 gave the brand and a name to Maxim, so it was clearly the blockbuster of the first decade. The second is hard to pick, but the MAX786 brought us a lot of revenue, which is the definition of a blockbuster, as a single product.

Q: Does the industry value the importance of analogue design skills more highly than 30 years ago?

Tunç Doluca: More than ever, customers are pressed for time and want solutions.

While this has been happening for the past two decades, this trend is now accelerating at an even faster pace. They often require a deeper partnership with their analog suppliers.

We understand that as well as the market trends. Whether through highly innovative standalone products or highly integrated ICs, we are leading the way in changing how analog fits into these systems.

Q: What are the most important technologies for the business in 2013?

Tunç Doluca: Mobility is the largest analogue market and by far the fastest growing today. Any company that has growth objectives has to pay attention to this market and we clearly do.

Also, because of its fast pace and technology advances, this market drives innovation that we can apply to our other markets.

The world population that has disposable income is growing rapidly and according to statistics has doubled in the past 20 years. These new consumers demand more energy, medical care and goods produced by more efficient factories.

We expect investment in these areas to grow.

In the medical segment of our industrial business, we have demonstrated a vital signs monitoring shirt that enables lower cost and more convenient heart monitoring.

According to industry research, the market for wearable devices will reach more than 100 million units annually by 2016. These devices will enable greater detail of tracking, monitoring and care, often through connections provided by mobile phones.

In automotive, we see opportunities for our tuners and power management products in infotainment applications.

Q: What are the biggest opportunities and challenges for an analogue company in 2013?

Tunç Doluca: Developing highly integrated, high performance analogue products is quite challenging. We have been observing this trend for a decade and have made the necessary changes in the company in the recent years to rise to this challenge.

These include shifts in intellectual property, engineering, technology and manufacturing, as well as cultural and organisational changes.

Our IP portfolio and capability to provide integrated analogue products took us years to build.

I believe our industry is at an inflection point and there is a need for analogue integration. The industry trend, regardless of application, is quickly shifting to smaller devices and form factors.

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