SMSC, Symwave to capitalize on growth of USB 3.0

HAUPPAUGE & LAGUNA NIGUEL, USA: SMSC, a leading semiconductor provider of Smart Mixed-Signal Connectivity solutions, and Symwave Inc., a leading silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB devices, announced a strategic relationship with the objective to accelerate delivery of superior end-to-end USB 3.0 solutions into high volume mobile, consumer and computing segments.

Under the agreement, SMSC has made an initial cash investment of $4 million in Symwave, and SMSC’s President and CEO, Christine King, will join Symwave’s Board of Directors. As part of the relationship, SMSC has committed to an additional $1.3 million investment if required by Symwave and has obtained the right to acquire Symwave under certain conditions.

Symwave is a private semiconductor supplier headquartered in Laguna Niguel, CA, with design centers in San Diego, CA and Shenzhen, China and approximately 100 employees worldwide.

Symwave develops software-intensive high-performance analog/mixed-signal SoC solutions for rapidly emerging USB 3.0 based consumer devices including external storage, cellular phones, media players, camcorders, and digital cameras.

“Symwave has assembled a talented team and they have developed a product roadmap which is complementary to SMSC's own plans for SuperSpeed USB," said Christine King, President and CEO of SMSC.

"In addition, our relationship will give us an option to access a new segment of the USB 3.0 market, which could broaden our applications opportunity beyond PCs, personal media players and smartphones into storage."

The USB 3.0 standard, released in November 2008 is the latest technology evolution of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, first introduced in 1996.

Supporting a 5 gigabit per second signaling rate, USB 3.0 delivers ten times the rate of USB 2.0, and is backward-compatible with all existing and legacy USB 2.0 ports and devices. Additionally, USB 3.0 delivers nearly double the bus powering and charging capability, improves device power management and includes significant host or PC performance improvements.

“SMSC is a recognized leader in some of the most pervasive USB applications today, with proven quality, innovation and high volume production,“ said Yossi Cohen, President and CEO of Symwave. “Collaborating with SMSC will enable Symwave to better execute on our business plan and add tremendous momentum to achieving our goals while simultaneously expanding our USB 3.0 market presence.”