NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company employs approximately 31,000 people in more than 35 countries, including 11,200 engineers in 33 countries. NXP reported revenue of $9.4 billion in 2018.
Originally spun off from Philips in 2006, a merger agreement was announced with Freescale Semiconductor in March 2015, to form a billion company. The acquisition closed on 7 December 2015.
On 27 October 2016, it was announced that Qualcomm would try to buy NXP, but because the Chinese merger authority did not approve the acquisition before the deadline set by Qualcomm, it was effectively cancelled on 26 July 2018.
Description.
NXP said it was the fifth-largest non-memory semiconductor supplier in 2016, and the leading semiconductor supplier for the secure identification, automotive and digital networking industries. The company was founded in 1953 as part of the electrical and electronics firm Philips, with manufacturing and development in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Known then as Philips Semiconductors, the company was sold to a consortium of private equity investors in 2006, at which point the company's name was changed to NXP.
On August 6, 2010, NXP completed its initial public offering, with shares trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol NXPI. On December 23, 2013, NXP Semiconductors was added to the NASDAQ 100. Finally, on March 2, 2015, it was announced that NXP Semiconductors would merge with chip designer and manufacturer Freescale Semiconductor in a $40 billion US-dollar deal. The merger was closed on December 7, 2015.
NXP Semiconductors provides mixed signal and standard products based on its security, identification, automotive, networking, radio frequency, analog signal, and power management expertise. With an emphasis on security of the connected vehicle and the Internet of things, the company's products are used in automotive, identification, wired and wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, consumer, mobile and computing applications. For example, in order to protect against potential hackers, NXP offers gateways to automotive manufacturers that prevent communication with every network within a car independently.
NXP is the co-inventor of near field communication (NFC) technology along with Sony and Inside Secure and supplies NFC chip sets that enable mobile phones to be used to pay for goods, and store and exchange data securely. NXP manufactures chips for eGovernment applications such as electronic passports; RFID tags and labels; and transport and access management, with the chip set and contactless card for MIFARE used by many major public transit systems worldwide.
In addition, NXP manufactures automotive chips for in-vehicle networking, passive keyless entry and immobilization, and car radios. NXP invented the I²C interface over 30 years ago and has since supplied products using it. Before the divestiture of Nexperia, NXP was also a volume supplier of standard logic devices, and celebrated its 50 years in logic (via its history as both Signetics and Philips Semiconductors) in March 2012.
NXP owns over 9,000 issued or pending patents.
Worldwide sites.
NXP Semiconductors is headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company has operations in more than 35 countries, with engineering design teams in 23 countries.
NXP currently has 14 manufacturing sites, with seven test and assembly sites and seven wafer fabs:
History.
Icoma/Elcoma.
In 1953 Philips started a small scale production facility in the center of the Dutch city Nijmegen as part of the Dutch Philips division "Icoma" (Industrial components and materials), in 1965 it became part of the new division "Elcoma" (Electronic components and materials). Soon a new factory was built and it opened in 1955.
In 1975 Silicon Valley–based Signetics was acquired by Philips. Signetics claimed to be the "first company in the world established expressly to make and sell integrated circuits" and inventor of the 555 timer IC. At the time, it was claimed that "with the Signetics acquisition, Philips was now number two in the league table of semiconductor manufacturers in the world." In 1987, Philips was ranked Europe's largest semiconductor maker, with sales of $1.36 billion in 1986.
Philips Semiconductors.
The names Elcoma, Signetics and all the other names of local Philips semiconductor subsidiaries like Faselec in Switzerland and Mullard in Great Britain merged into Philips Components in 1988 and that was renamed Philips Semiconductors in 1991.
Philips acquired VLSI Technology in June 1999. At the time, the acquisition made Philips the world's sixth largest semiconductor company.
Separation.
December 2005, Philips announced its intention to legally separate its semiconductor division, Philips Semiconductors, into an independent legal entity. In September 2006, Philips completed the sale of an 80.1% stake in Philips Semiconductors to a consortium of private equity investors consisting of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners, Apax Partners, and AlpInvest Partners.
The new company name NXP (from Next eXPerience) was announced on August 31, 2006, and was officially launched during the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) consumer electronics show in Berlin. The newly independent NXP was ranked as one of the world's top 10 semiconductor companies. At the time, CEO Frans van Houten emphasized the importance of NXP in enabling "vibrant media" technologies in mobile phones, digital TVs, portable music players and other consumer electronics devices.
Independent company.
NXP's first acquisition as an independent company was in 2007, when NXP announced that it would acquire Silicon Laboratories’ AeroFONE single-chip phone and power amplifier product lines to strengthen its Mobile and Personal business. Fourteen months later, NXP announced that it would transform its Mobile and Personal business unit into a joint venture with STMicroelectronics, which in 2009 became ST-Ericsson, a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson Mobile Platforms and STMicroelectronics, after ST purchased NXP's 20% stake. Similarly, in April 2008, NXP announced it would acquire the set-top box business of Conexant to complement its existing Home business unit. In October 2009, NXP announced that it would sell its Home business unit to Trident Microsystems.
In September 2008, NXP announced that it would restructure its manufacturing, R&D and back office operations, resulting in 4,500 job cuts worldwide, for annual savings of $550 million.
President and CEO Rick Clemmer took over from Frans van Houten on January 1, 2009. Clemmer has emphasized the importance of "high performance mixed signal" products as a key focus area for NXP. As of 2011, "standard products" including components such as small signal, power and integrated discretes accounted for 30 percent of NXP's business.
Acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor.
In March 2015, a merger agreement was announced through which NXP would acquire rival Freescale Semiconductor. The RF Power Division was sold to JAC Capital for $1.8 billion and was rebranded as Ampleon, in a transaction closed in November 2015. On December 7, 2015, NXP completed its acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor and the merged company continued operations as NXP Semiconductors N.V.
Both elements have deep roots stretching back to when they were part of Philips NV (in the case of NXP), and Motorola (Freescale). Each had comparable revenue figures; US$4.8B and US$4.2B for NXP and Freescale respectively in 2013. NXP primarily focuses on near field communication (NFC) and high-performance mixed signal (HPMS) hardware. Freescale focuses on its microprocessor and microcontroller. Both companies possess roughly equal patent portfolios.
Certainly, each company brings core strengths to the combined organization, NFC from NXP and microcontrollers from Freescale. Also, both companies have been actively involved in litigation over the years as both plaintiff and defendant, so a larger and, more importantly, a more geographically diverse patent portfolio could likely prove useful in such matters. Chipworks' analysts suggest the newly merged company will divest itself of many properties as the merger progresses.
Some analysts believe cost savings after the two companies merge are expected to be about $500M dollars. Customers are ultimately divided over the consolidation of their product families and how it may affect their own development and end-products.
Controversies.
In March 2013, NXP locked out workers at its plant in Bangkok, Thailand. The reason were stalled negotiations over a new work schedule with their trade union, which was affiliated with the Confederation of Thai Electrical Appliances, Electronic Automobile & Metalworkers (TEAM). Management then called in small groups of workers, asked them if they agreed with the union's demands, and told them to leave if they did. They were not able to enter the factory the next day. In response, TEAM staged protests outside the factory and on March 13 outside the Dutch embassy and also filed a complaint with the National Human Right Commission. On April 29, mediation by the Ministry of Labour led to the signing of a memorandum that passed the decision over the work schedule to the Labor Relations Committee. The committee decided on June 20 that the new work schedule did not violate Thai labour law; however, the National Human Rights Committee decided otherwise and recommended the factory should revert to the old schedule. NXP continues to demand regular 12-hour shifts.
In May 2014, the company fired 24 workers at its plant in the special economic zone in Cabuyao, The Philippines. The workers were all officials of a trade union affiliated with the Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP). Reports said they were fired due to their union functions in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. Factory owners claimed the workers were fired after refusing to work on April 9, while workers said they had not been paid for two months. IndustriALL and its affiliated unions in the Philippines condemned the dismissals. In September, MWAP and NXP reached an agreement by which 12 of the fired workers were reinstated and the other 12 received separation packages. NXP also committed itself to a long-term wage increase. In the summer of 2015, a member of the Dutch parliament questioned trade minister Lilianne Ploumen regarding NXP's behaviour.