Tech innovation will focus on improving quality of life

Can you describe the journey of Philips Semiconductor and how it has
changed after the creation of NXP?

The journey began fifteen years ago and was based on Moores Law. The idea
was to integrate more, and faster. That journey come to an end but it is slowing
down and has become less impactful. We decided a year ago to spin out the
wireless division based on the observation that the investment needed for the
next generation of wireless solution are huge. This joint venture company is a
serious competitor to the top players in the space. Now we realize that we could
not have done it ourselves.

What are some of the innovations that are in the pipeline from your four
divisions?

On the home front, NXP is working on lots of things. Integrated solution for
digital TVs, a field where NXP has been innovating for the last many years. We
are working on improving the picture quality of TV by putting in more and more
functionalities in one piece of silicon. It is the functionalities and quality
of TV that we are looking at and that is an ongoing journey. The second area is
the cost of ownership which is going down. If we take a parallel with analog, it
took a while before we got to a one chip solution. In the digital arena we will
go through the same cycle which is very challenging because it involves
extremely high technology which is characteristic of a large market.

NXP had acquired Connexants set top box division. What is the status on
this?

We had acquired the Broadband Media Processing (BMP) business of Conexant
Systems and this got combined with NXPs existing set-top box and digital TV
operations. It was very synergetic as lot of IP can be shared.

What is the latest from your automotive solution and identification
business units?

Car infotainment is the next big thing. We are working on solutions around
DVD, satellite radio, and navigation. There are a number of functions coming
together around what is classically a radio in a car.

As far as identification is concerned, the big thing is electronic circuitary
for e-governmence applications like passports and drivers license.

Sudesh Prasad

sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in