SMSC acquires Symwave

HAUPPAUGE, USA: SMSC has acquired Symwave Inc., a global fabless semiconductor company supplying high-performance analog/mixed-signal connectivity solutions utilizing proprietary technology, IP and silicon design capabilities.

Symwave’s suite of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 compliant products and core technology deliver up to 10 times the speed of USB 2.0 devices and target external storage, cellular phones, media players, camcorders, digital cameras and other applications requiring high-speed data transfer capabilities. End products based on Symwave’s storage controller were the industry’s first to achieve the USB-IF’s USB 3.0 certification in December 2009.

“As a market leader for USB solutions, SMSC remains at the forefront of technology evolution that enhances our strong portfolio to better serve our customers and create new growth opportunities for our company,” said Christine King, president and CEO of SMSC.

“This led to our initial investment in Symwave in 2009, whose team of engineers has since delivered the industry’s lowest power, highest performing storage products for the SuperSpeed USB market. With USB 3.0 now ready for mass deployment, SMSC is strengthening its market position through the addition of best-in-class USB 3.0 expertise to take advantage of this technological shift at the optimal time. We expect this IP will be broadly used throughout SMSC’s connectivity product portfolio.”

“SMSC has been a strong supporter of Symwave during some of the most challenging financial times in the history of our industry, and their backing enabled us to complete the product development and ramp our customers to production successfully,” said Yossi Cohen, president and CEO of Symwave.

“We are pleased to see a successful outcome for our employees and shareholders, our customers, and our suppliers. We envisioned the emergence of USB 3.0 over 2.5 years ago and are proud of having delivered on our vision with multiple successful products.”

Symwave has developed a host of standards-based physical layer (PHY), low power analog front end (AFE) cores, integrated circuits (ICs) and semiconductor system solutions. These solutions feature patented technical innovations that enable multi-gigabit per second data transfer rates with extremely low power and excellent electrical performance. In addition, Symwave provides software, reference designs, and a complete development environment for USB storage applications.

Symwave products have already been qualified by most of the major storage OEM companies worldwide and are shipping in excess of a million units per month. This is expected to contribute to SMSC’s USB revenue stream and accelerate SMSC’s entry into the USB 3.0 market.

SMSC had previously made a $5.2 million equity investment in Symwave, resulting in a total equity stake of 14 percent, and recently provided $3.1 million in bridge financing to Symwave. Under terms of the agreement, SMSC also agreed to make cash payments to Symwave shareholders as part of an earnout provision upon achievement of certain financial goals during calendar year 2011.

Headquartered in Laguna Niguel, CA, with design centers in San Diego, CA and Shenzhen, China, Symwave has approximately 90 employees, of which over 60 are in Asia. The acquisition closed on November 12, 2010.