STMicro Kicks Off Greater China HQ R&D Center
Yao Gang, Editor-in-Chief, SI China -- Semiconductor International, 4/17/2008 8:00:00 AM
STMicroelectronics Corp. (Geneva) inaugurated a $25M R&D center at its Greater China headquarters in the Shanghai Zizhu Science-Based Industrial Park earlier this month. Presently, 400 engineers and scientists work at the R&D center, but STMicro officials said plans call for the 20,000 m2 building to eventually be used by 1200 technical staff charged with creating innovations in auto electronics, consumer electronics and energy conservation, as well as solutions related to market development in China.
COO Alain Dutheil said the Chinese market is of great significance to STMicro’s success, with 30% of current revenue coming from the Greater China region and the rate of growth gaining momentum. In 2005, STMicro created Greater China, covering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with a dedicated vice president.
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| STMicroelectronics plans to develop products aimed at the Greater China market at its new R&D center in Shanghai. |
According to Bob Krysiak, president of Greater China operations, STMicro has two technical competence centers in Shanghai, one dedicated to global digital TV software and the other focused on innovative application development in multiple fields. To date, the IC design team, with more than 200 design engineers, has developed more than 60 new products for domestic and international clients.
Dutheil said the second STMicro assembly and test plant in Longgang, China, with a $500M investment, is expected to go into operation within this year to assemble and test one billion units of the company's power inverters per year.
In addition, an economical computer system named Demo, developed by STMicro using the Loongson 2E CPU of the computer institute of the China Academy of Science, is expected to be mass produced soon. The Loongson 2E processor is based on the MIPS 64 bit architecture.
Displayed in the product exhibition quarter in the Greater China headquarters building are product solutions developed on STM32 microcontroller platforms, including e-bikes, robots and energy-efficient air conditioners, as well as power management solutions. Also on display are TV image solutions — the integration of STMicro technologies as well as solutions from Genesis Microchip, a company STMicro acquired last December. These solutions include front- and back-end technologies, auto safety systems, power assembly, on-board entertainment and navigation system solutions. Also on display are STMicro’s newly launched Lab on Chip and VereFlu, a diagnosis application that can speed-test influenza viruses.
