Renesas Electronics ramps up production of USB 3.0 host controllers to six million units per month

SANTA CLARA, USA: Renesas Electronics, a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced that the cumulative total shipment of the company’s SuperSpeed Universal Serial Bus (USB 3.0) host controllers has reached 30 million units worldwide as of May 19, 2011.

This achievement comes only a year and a half after starting mass production of the world's first USB host controller (µPD720200) in September 2009, and is the landmark that establishes Renesas Electronics as the clear number one manufacturer of USB 3.0 host controllers. The company also announced that to further address increasing orders from customers, it plans to double production of USB 3.0 host controllers to a monthly production of six million units starting this June.

Leadership in USB
As a member of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) since 1996, Renesas Electronics (formerly NEC Electronics) has played a leading role both in defining USB standards and in developing USB technology. In April 2000, the company (then NEC Electronics) launched the µPD720100 device, the world's first USB 2.0-compliant host controller chip and an extensive lineup of other USB devices, and has earned a reputation for delivering dedicated customer service and high quality.

In May 2009, Renesas Electronics (then NEC Electronics) introduced the industry's first USB 3.0 xHCI host controller and, only after four months of its release, the company became the world’s first to earn the "Certified SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0)" certification from the USB-IF, and also started mass production of the µPD720200 host controller. In the following year, the company released its second USB 3.0 xHCI host controller (µPD720200A) and passed the compliance and certification testing in only two months. These host controllers have become the de facto USB 3.0 host controller standard realizing the best interoperability between PCs and PC peripherals that support USB 3.0.

Following these devices, two new host controllers joined the Renesas USB 3.0 product lineup in March 2011 to deliver even faster transfer speeds, better power efficiency, and more compact size than the company’s previous versions of USB 3.0 host controllers.

Renesas Electronics is the world’s largest producer of USB 3.0 host controllers and provides complete USB 3.0 solutions, which includes device drivers for Windows™ XP, Vista™ and Windows 7. Renesas Electronics also licenses both host and device-side USB 3.0 IP and offers USB host- and device-side building blocks within its custom ASIC libraries for companies wishing to design and market their own USB 3.0 integrated circuits.

“The fact that our USB 3.0 host controllers surpassed the 30 million cumulative shipment mark in just one-and-a-half years serves as a clear demonstration that Renesas Electronics is the leader in the USB 3.0 market,” said Yukihiko Matsuda, associate GM, Industry & Network Business Division, Renesas Electronics. “To address the increasing adoption and orders from both new and existing customers in a timely manner, we decided to ramp up our production, and in the meantime, our product lineups will continue to evolve, expanding their possibilities by adding new features to further respond to customer requirements.”

All the USB 3.0 host controllers mentioned are currently available.