Microwave Engineering Europe - May 2008 - (Page 13)

COVER FEATURE — GaAs FOUNDRY 13 Figure 2: GaAs merchant demand from Wireless Applications (Strategy Analytics GaAs industry forecast - April 2007). Technology Offering customers a broad technology palette is a key success factor for GaAs foundries. This wide portfolio of technologies should include Passives, MESFET, HBT, pHEMT in geometries from 0.5µm to 0.13µm, E/D pHEMT, and the ultimate technology for integration, BiHEMT (see Figure 3). To best leverage the capabilities of the technology portfolio, successful foundries will engage customers in deep technical discussions. This helps the customer better understand which processes are best suited to meet their needsand yield valuable insight into industry trends and application requirements. This will drivethe GaAs foundry to make improvements in its current technology and develop new processes as appropriate to meet future needs. A broad technology roadmap and R&D resources to develop this roadmap are essential for a GaAs foundry’s long term viability. Trust There are a limited number of GaAs experts, designers and GaAs foundries in the world. It is a relatively small, close knit community of experts who may collaborate at industry conferences and seminars but compete from within their respective companies. Therefore, it is imperative for GaAs foundries to recognize the importance of developing longlasting and trusting relationships. Trust is gained by operating a ﬁnancially stable and viable company customers can depend on to meet their manufacturing requirements. Also, a GaAs foundry must develop and maintain an impeccable reputation for IP protection, product quality and dependable delivery performance. Customers will return to foundry partners found to be trustworthy with designs, intellectual property and overall customer service. Asian foundry suppliers are further challenged to establish trusting relationships with customers since there is a common perception that intellectual property is not well guarded in Asia. These foundry suppliers have to prove to their customers that they will protect their intellectual property by keeping it safe from other customers and against competing business units. Developing trust takes time. New entrants will ﬁnd it especially difﬁcult, since time and experience are key to developing this trust. A single incident where this trust is betrayed can signiﬁcantly set back a customer/supplier relationship requiring a long time to rebuild. Support Support for customers is the third key element of success for GaAs foundries. To best service customers and meet product development timelines, foundries need to offer a broad array of support services including quick turn prototyping, device samples, design tool libraries, data sheets, design handbooks, training classes, real time applications engineering support, online order status portals, dedicated sales and customer service, die sort services, quality programs, reliability studies, and when needed, world-class failure analysis capabilities. A reputable foundry recognizes the importance of these support elements and invests the necessary marketing, engineering, and administrative resources to provide them. Finally, a trusted foundry offers worldclass manufacturing support to its customers. The foundry must operate a high quality wafer fab managed with Statistical Process Control (SPC) and well-documented quality guidelines. The wafer fab must offer competitive lead-times and the ability to support upside demand as the end customer’s products ﬁnd success in the market place. Conclusions In conclusion, a successful GaAs foundry supplier must possess innovative technology, establish long-lasting, trusting relationships with customers and provide world-class support. With this foundation, the GaAs foundry must identify and engage the right new market segments to grow and gain market share and execute a well thought out market engagement plan. Combining an innovative technology portfolio, world-class support, and trusting customer relationships will set the foundation for a successful GaAs foundry business. References [1] Asif Anwar, GaAs Industry Forecast: 2006-2011, April 2007, Strategy Analytics Report. Figure 3: TriQuint released foundry process technologies. Microwave Engineering ● May 2008 ● www.mwee.com http://www.mwee.com

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Microwave Engineering Europe - May 2008 News Contents Comment Cover Feature: How to Succeed as a GaAs Foundry Wireless Networking: Wireless Coverage Where Everybody WINS Wireless Networking: Achieving Good Coexistence in the 2.4 GHz ISM Band GPS and Satellite: GPS developments: Galileo Moves Forward with Successful Giove-B Satellite Launch — Broadcom Targets AGPS in Mobile Phones and Devices Raising the Bar for the Radio: Making 802.11n Work Reducing Power Consumption in Ultrawideband Chips WiMax Catches Second Test Wave Products Calendar

Microwave Engineering Europe - May 2008

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