Nealm,
Nice post. I hope I can add a bit more color to the situation. ANAD was the leading PA power house a couple years ago. They were using ion implant MESFET like most other GaAs companies. Out of nowhere, RFMD displaced them by capturing NOK and providing a better solution, HBTs.
Meanwhile, CNXT developed their own HBT with better technology but for a long time couldn't believe the market opportunity. They cornered the CDMA market for it's higher revenue (per unit, better GM and great growth.
It took the GaAs companies about 2 or 3 years to believe that RFMD's solution was good. Currently, handset providers want HBT solutions for PA circuits. ANAD wants to recapture market taken by RFMD. Can they do it? Maybe, they have partnered with one of the start-up foundries in CA and are trying to bring to market a 6" process with InGaP, carbon doped HBTs. If they are successful, it should be an interesting dynamic.
CNXT came around to the potential with HBTs and are capturing GSM designs as well as maintaining their CDMA position. AHAA recognized HBTs and partnered with another CA start-up. TQNT has decided to go-it-alone using technology from the old TI operation in Dallas. So I'd guess the list of competitors to RFMD would be CNXT, ANAD, AHAA and TQNT. Note that TQNT can't decide whether they want to do HBTs or pHEMTs. They have had the HBT technology for quite a while and haven't yet gotten a significant design win.
On the SiGe front, it is a great technology when integration or better performance (than CMOS) is required. However, it is not "cheaper" than GaAs and 6" HBTs are cheaper than IBM's foundry service despite the fact it is a 8" process.
SiGe will make great gains in the market but cell phone PAs will remain HBTs for the next couple years. The addition of more competition from the companies mentioned above as well as companies in Europe and Japan should greatly reduce the price of these circuits.
RFMD is a great company but they have an inferior HBT technology (Be doped, MBE grown, AlGaAs HBTs) and a poor tech road map with the technology (InP). On the plus side,they have great management and marketing. So far, they have had little to no competition in the market, that is changing quickly. It will be very interesting to see how this market place develops.
IMHO |
