Microchip's acquisition of Atmel was a tortuous process, until Dialog announced the acquisition agreement and paid a termination fee to complete the deal, which somewhat makes it seem that Microchip was hesitant throughout the acquisition process. However, Ganesh Moorthy, chief operating officer and president of Microchip, denied such speculation in an interview with this magazine a few days ago.
Are you sure that such speculation is inaccurate?
One hundred percent sure! Regarding the details of the acquisition, we have already made formal disclosures through various channels, so I will not repeat them here. All I can promise is that Microchip will continue to provide customers with solutions based on MIPS and ARM technologies, and will continue to produce the Microchip PIC32 and Atmel SAM 32-bit families. At the same time, we will continue to support and invest in the growing portfolio of 8-bit PIC and AVR MCUs.
For the foreseeable future, Microchip plans to fully support both Atmel Studio 7 and MPLAB X IDE. No matter which platform customers prefer, they can enjoy excellent service. Of course, we will continue to adhere to the customer-centric philosophy that we have maintained for many years – we will continue to provide customers with products whenever they need specific devices.
Ganesh Moorthy, Chief Operating Officer and President of Microchip
Although Microchip has always emphasized that it can support both MIPS and ARM cores, there are many people who think that supporting both architectures will distract the company.
In fact, Microchip has been providing customers with ARM-based products for several years for specific applications. Microchip has never focused on "one core", we focus on providing "one platform" complete solution. To the best of my knowledge, we are the only vendor in the market that offers both MIPS-based and ARM-based solutions, which allows us to provide the best solutions to solve our customers' design challenges.
We strongly believe that supporting devices with both cores will help the company grow its business and provide better support to our customers." Today, we have an unprecedented ability to better support our customers and meet all of their design needs.
Recently, Solomon Systech announced the acquisition of Microchip's advanced mobile touch technology assets and semiconductor products for a total cash consideration of US$23 million, does this mean that Microchip's product strategy has changed? What applications will Microchip focus on in the future?
The sale of the mobile touch business to Solomon Systech will not have an impact on Microchip's product strategy.
Before acquiring Atmel, Microchip was already a pioneer in touch technology, and the addition of Atmel brought us many advanced touch products, including maXTouch. These advanced touch products are not included in this sale, and Microchip will continue to play an important role in the touch space.
Steve Sanghi, Chairman and CEO of Microchip, has said that the transaction confirms Microchip's earlier announced plan to sell the non-core mobile touch assets we acquired through the acquisition of Atmel. We are delighted that this transaction was made possible so quickly.
The transaction will have no impact on the Company's operations now and in the future. The mobile touch business sold to Solomon Systech has been classified as a 'pending asset' since April 4, 2016, and none of our subsequent operations include this part of the business.
Since the completion of the acquisition of Atmel on April 4, 2016, Microchip has been working on the integration of Atmel, including: substantial financial gains from subsequent businesses; Integrate Atmel employees into Microchip and adapt to our corporate culture; Actively market our mobile touch assets that we previously sold for sale. This will significantly enhance Atmel's business model, resulting in strong returns for the company's shareholders over the long term.
How do the 32-bit products of the two companies complement each other?
Due to their different strengths and emphases, many 32-bit MCU products are actually largely complementary. For example, SAM has a specific family of products specifically positioned for lower power consumption and 5V operating voltage, while the PIC32 has a more optimized product family for audio and graphics solutions. In the future, we plan to continue to produce SAM and PIC32 series products.
In addition to supporting 32-bit processor products, will Atmel START continue to support the 8-bit AVR product line in the future?
Yes, while it is too early to commit to any specific date at this stage, we always believe that modern rapid prototyping tools, including START and MPLAB code configurators, are of great strategic importance to customers committed to delivering competitive, innovative solutions in this rapidly evolving industry.
Both companies combine a wide range of partners to provide customers with technical expertise, consulting services, and hardware and software design and production support. How will Microchip manage these partners from both companies?
We value all partnerships, including two new partners, IAR and Keil. These partnerships are critical to Atmel's success, especially for SAM, ARM family of devices and AVR products. We will continue to build on these relationships and continue to expand Microchip's global network of design partners and third-party suppliers.
Now that Microchip has formed a complete, affordable low-power 32-bit microcontroller product line, will the investment in 8-bit products inevitably decrease?
No. We found that there are actually a large number of embedded control applications that crave unique features that only 8-bit products can provide: ease of use, 5V operating voltage, robustness, noise immunity, real-time performance, endurance, integration of analog and digital peripherals, ultra-low quiescent power, and more. We believe that it is inappropriate/sufficient to use bits to classify such a complex product as a modern microcontroller. We believe that having the right peripheral is really the most critical factor.
How do the security products of the two companies work together?
Atmel and Microchip's security products complement each other. Atmel has a wide range of encryption and security MPU products. Microchip also has an extensive product line in hardware-based encryption MCUs and security software solutions. The combined strengths of both companies form a comprehensive security solution that fully meets the needs of our customers.
Are there some overlaps between Atmel's and Microchip's storage products?
Yes, Atmel and Microchip overlap heavily in terms of the serial EEPROM product line. We have no plans to stop production and all products in production will continue to be available. Microchip offers a broader line of storage products, including serial flash, parallel flash and serial SRAM, which Atmel lacks. Atmel complements Microchip with its unique parallel EEPROM and EPROM products.
How does Microchip handle Atmel's Wi-Fi product line?
Atmel's Wi-Fi portfolio offers competitive advantages in terms of low power, small size, and low cost. Atmel and Microchip's Wi-Fi products have merged into a single, unified product family. We have no plans to stop production and all products in production will continue to be available.
Are the analog products of the two companies overlapping to create redundancy, and will Microchip eliminate its own or Atmel's products?
We have no plans to retire any of our standalone products because our independent analog product lines do not exist, or almost do not overlap. We have found that the products of the two companies have different advantages, so we are combining our different temperature sensor products, as well as CAN, LIN and power conversion products into a unified product family.
What kind of future product roadmap does the company have in place?
While it is not convenient for us to disclose the specifics of our roadmap, we can disclose that we are committed to expanding our product line to fully meet the needs of our customers.