This looks interesting
SMH/Swatch Group Semiconductor & ATMI Announce Alliance
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland and DANBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 1998--EM Marin, semiconductor subsidiary of the Swiss SMH/Swatch Group, the worldwide largest electronics and watch maker, and ATMI's (Nasdaq: ATMI) Emosyn Division, a fabless semiconductor company, today announced an agreement to design, develop, manufacture, and distribute integrated circuits (ICs) for the smartcard marketplace.
EM-Marin and Emosyn have created a business alliance to focus on novel chip designs and memory technologies for the smart card industry. This multi-million dollar project, under unified management, will jointly market and sell its products worldwide. The first products are expected to be available early next year.
Dr. M. Darwish, President of EM-Marin, said, "This new alliance with Emosyn helps us add another product layer to our objective: offering the semiconductor market the widest possible choice of ultra low power IC technology. Moreover, it further strengthens our leading position in the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) market. EM-Marin has adopted an ambitious expansion strategy through acquisitions, new market entries, and by creating business alliances in carefully targeted vertical markets. We view this deal as an important step along the way."
Nicholas Wood, Vice-President and General Manager of Emosyn, said, "This is the first step in establishing Emosyn as a semiconductor supplier. Two years of strategic marketing and technical feasibility studies turned our customers into our best product designers. EM-Marin and Emosyn combine essential manufacturing strategy and product design capability, enhancing our ability to offer customers world class semiconductors. We expect to enter the dramatically growing smart card market in high value segments with an exciting range of new products."
Edgar Geiser, SMH/Swatch Group's Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, pointed out, "We view this agreement as being very similar to the type of successful brand extension strategies employed by Swatch Access. By creating this valuable business alliance with Emosyn, we are able to enlarge our service capabilities world wide with partners who represent a good strategic and technological fit."
Dr. Peter Kirlin, ATMI Executive Vice-President, said "This alliance is the first step of our plan to introduce enhanced technology and smart card IC's to the marketplace. Combining Emosyn's product design and marketing efforts with EM's manufacturing capability should create a powerful smart card solution."
The SMH/Swatch Group also pointed to ready-made internal markets. Nick Hayek, Senior Vice-President of SMH/Swatch and Vice-President of Swatch Access added, "We at Swatch and Swatch Access welcome this agreement which enables us to serve our clients more completely." |
