'Bad news' Jacob was kicked out of the board of directors of Qualcomm, acquired NXP Ministry of Commerce returned from ministerial level

1. The former chairman of Qualcomm Jacobs will be kicked out of the board of directors due to privatization. 2. The Ministry of Commerce will refund Qualcomm's acquisition of NXP and return from the ministerial level to the staff level. 3. Qualcomm: The crisis has not yet been removed and there is an urgent need to return to growth. 4 optimistic about the Chinese market, ASMI expects China's performance will achieve three times this year's growth

1. Jacob former chairman of Qualcomm will be kicked out of the board of directors for privatization;

According to the report of the “New York Times” on March 17, Micronet’s Board of Directors stated that Paul Jacob’s proceeding with privatization will be nominated by the Qualcomm’s board of directors at the annual shareholders’ meeting on the 23rd. Board members. This means that since the establishment of Qualcomm in 1985, Jacob family members will not appear in the top management institutions.

Paul Jacobs stated that at the present time, he was "disappointed and miserable" for the board to make such a decision. Paul Jacobs has served as chairman of the board since 2009 and retired on March 9 this year, but on the board of directors. Reservation of board seats.

On Tuesday, Paul Jacobs emailed to the board that he wanted to start the process of privatizing the company and had already approached potential consortiums, including Japan Softbank. Analysts pointed out that privatization made Qualcomm face the market. The volatility is more stable and conducive to the implementation of some long-term planning and investment.

Qualcomm’s current market value is approximately US$90 billion. It is not yet clear whether Jacob will eventually make a formal offer to Qualcomm. However, Qualcomm stated that if Jacobs made the offer, it’ll be responsible to shareholders. Attitude to evaluate it'.

According to sources, Jacobs has always been opposed to Broadcom’s acquisition of Qualcomm. However, in response to Broadcom’s acquisition, Jacobs gradually diverged from other board members, including CEO Molenkov.

2. Pass the Ministry of Commerce to Qualcomm's acquisition of NXP review from the ministerial level back to the staff level;

Phoenix International iMarkets CTFN quoted lawyers who had experience in acting as a proxy for semiconductor industry transaction delivery to the Ministry of Commerce of China. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s approval of NXP Semiconductors/Qualcomm Transaction has returned from the ministerial level to the staff level to resolve some concerns.

CTFN quoted the lawyer as saying that it is expected that Trump’s blocking of Broadcom’s acquisition of Qualcomm will not affect the review of NXP/Qualcomm by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. There is no tit for tat.

It is expected that the review by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce will not be completed this month.

3. Qualcomm: The crisis has not been eliminated and it is urgent to return to growth.

Set micronet reported on March 17 (reporter Zhang Yiqun) A White House ban has protected Qualcomm's wings and hit Broadcom's ambitions.

Qualcomm's 'mutilation' has paid a heavy price. Broadcom has harvested the first loss of radical mergers and acquisitions in recent years. There is no winner in the history of the 'Red and Blue' family's largest merger in history.

The temporary relief of the crisis does not mean that Qualcomm can have any laxity. After this robbery, the giants of the chip are desperate to return to growth.

Pursuit of privatization stability overrides everything

Qualcomm’s shareholders have been facing a question for the past few months: Who should vote for.

At present, Xiao Jacobs is actively contacting the globally renowned consortium for privatization. The son of the founder of Qualcomm has just been removed from Qualcomm's executive chairmanship two days before the White House ban was promulgated, becoming the subject of this merger. The first victim.

At that time, everyone believed that Qualcomm’s board of directors was releasing an independent, non-individual influence on the image of the board of directors. Since Xiao Jacob, who had stepped down as CEO of Qualcomm in 2014, has gradually faded out of the company’s day-to-day management, There is 0.13% of Qualcomm stocks, and it is very likely that the seat of the board will be lost in the voting of the annual general meeting of shareholders scheduled to be held.

Now, it seems that James Jacobs, who retired, seems to regain control of Qualcomm for his family.

Just as Broadcom intervened in the low price of stocks to start malicious acquisitions, Xiao Jacob can also use the power of individuals and financial groups to persuade shareholders to complete privatization.

Former chairman Paul Jacob of Qualcomm

Yang Guang, Senior Analyst of Wireless Analytics Strategy Services at Strategy Analytics, said that privatization has made Qualcomm more stable in face of market volatility and is conducive to the implementation of long-term planning and investment.

For now Qualcomm, stability is overwhelming.

However, privatization efforts are not easy. Xiao Jacobs needs to find a conglomerate with sufficient strength and persuades shareholders. It is reported that after a few days after the White House ban was issued, Xiao Jacobs has approached Softbank Japan and made personal contact with it. A good Sun justice may support, but in this way, foreign investment will also trigger a new round of regulatory review.

In 2013, Dell, which suffered a low performance, faced the same situation. The founder, Michael Dell, privatized the company named after his family name, through personal wealth and billions of dollars in private equity, and embarked on reform and transformation. road.

Dell founder Michael Dell

Michael Dell wrote this article: This is a more and more short-sighted world. Unfortunately, we have to be subject to it. Shareholders are urging every day to obtain the best income in the shortest time. As a result, the company has sacrificed. The vision of innovation and investment makes shareholders' rights run counter to the interests of consumers.

Despite the failure of mergers and acquisitions, Broadcom’s performance did not seem to be affected. Net profit in the first quarter soared 25 times, a large part of which was due to the acquisition of Brocade’s business of network equipment makers.

This further strengthened Broadcom's determination to expand through mergers and acquisitions. However, after losing the high-profile standard, Broadcom will turn to seeking small-scale transactions in the future. Today, Botong’s urgent task is to accelerate the relocation of headquarters and avoid regulatory obstacles for further acquisitions. The acquisition of Broadcom was made light by the United States Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS).

Radical and lack of sincerity, in this acquisition, Broadcom has once again strengthened its image of the 'barbarian' of science and technology. Quoting human life quotes for human disease, avoiding major issues such as the future of Qualcomm and negotiations during negotiations, and research and development The disregard for input, disdain for regulatory bans... could have occupied an absolutely active situation, but at the last moment, Qualcomm and CFIUS united in a wave of operations.

Capital can be invincible at certain moments, but it should be based on the ethical business ethics of the development of the industry, respect for competitors and the future. At this point, Broadcom does not show the demeanor of a big company. Maybe it never I thought I would be such a company.

Urgent need to increase share price to revive shareholder confidence

The umbrella of supervision made Qualcomm temporarily free from jealousy. However, after a battle, it seemed to be full of jealousy.

Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of the China Mobile Alliance, believes that Qualcomm’s external environment has not only failed to improve, but has also intensified.

'Qualcomm still needs to deal with Apple's disputes, facing global litigation penalties, completing NXP's deals and fulfilling its commitments to shareholders. Qualcomm's crisis has not been lifted.' Wang Yanhui said.

Qualcomm needs reflection, mainly from its business model. In the long run, Qualcomm's licensing will make Qualcomm more and more challenging.

Since last year, Qualcomm and Apple have been caught in disputes over patent licensing fees. As one of Qualcomm's largest customers, Apple has not complained about this for the past 10 years. Now, it has started a strategic attack and has caused companies like Huawei to follow suit. .

Although from the current perspective, both Qualcomm and Apple have a tougher position, the problem seems to be more difficult. However, Qualcomm recently assured an important investor that the two parties will eventually reach an agreement.

'If the two parties can reconcile, Apple pays Qualcomm, and Qualcomm's revenue will increase a lot, and the stock price will increase accordingly, which exceeds the $79 quoted by Broadcom before, at least to $84. 'The investor said.

In addition, Qualcomm still faces penalties imposed by many market regulators around the world. At present, Qualcomm has accepted penalties of one billion and eight billion U.S. dollars in mainland China and Taiwan, and South Korea’s request for penalties of 900 million U.S. dollars and Europe’s 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. In dispute.

In January of this year, Qualcomm had promised shareholders that its revenue for fiscal year 2019 was expected to reach 35-370 million U.S. dollars, achieving 60% growth. Through the settlement with Apple, it will implement a one-billion-dollar cost-reduction plan, and complete Nichichi. Pu's transactions, etc. to promote the stock price rise. However, Wall Street analysis pointed out that Qualcomm is expected to achieve revenue of 22.8 billion US dollars, combined with 2019 NXP is expected to contribute 10.4 billion US dollars of revenue, can only achieve 50% growth.

According to Gartner's vice president of research, Hong Yuwei, in an interview with JiWei.com reporter, Qualcomm will still face no small pressure for a period of time. 'Qualcomm needs to bring value to shareholders through the completion of NXP's transaction as soon as possible and return to growth. Track. 'Hong Wei said.

However, NXP’s acquisitions are also very variable. The problem is that this time node coincides with the launch of several trade policies against China after the Trump administration took office, including the announcement of a trade survey on China in the next few weeks (301 surveys). The results, as well as a series of tariff policies that are unfavorable to China, do not rule out the Chinese government’s takeover of NXP as a bargaining chip against U.S. trade policy. An industry source stated that the Ministry of Commerce may announce the results of the NXP acquisition in April. .

If the acquisition review does not pass, Qualcomm’s performance expectations will be greatly affected. In addition, Qualcomm may pay a 3%-4% break-up fee, which is also a significant amount of expenditure.

Qualcomm now urgently needs to release positive signals to the market and shareholders, establish their confidence, including their leadership in 5G and industry influence, etc. However, 5G gains will still take some time. In the short term, Tight belts, whether it can reach a settlement with Apple, or will have an impact on the trend of Qualcomm this year.

5G competing opponents to accelerate the pace of catch up

Qualcomm also needs to face the competitive pressure within the industry.

On March 14th, MediaTek released the first chip P60 with AI function. In order to take a turn for the better in 2018, Qualcomm also released the news that the artificial intelligence engine AI Engine was launched. Both sides competed. The intention is obvious.

The analysis pointed out that the smart phone market in mainland China migrated to the low-end segment this year. The P60 with multiple flagship functions showed a strong competitive advantage. Order performance exceeded expectations. In the mid-range market, Qualcomm needs to launch more competition this year. Force's products resist the counterattack from MediaTek.

At the same time, with Huawei’s smart phones in the global market, Hass continues to grow. Currently, it has already secured the largest IC design company in the mainland. Samsung has also introduced its own mobile phone chips at the low-end and gradually erodes Qualcomm’s market share. .

In this acquisition, the U.S. government’s concern about China’s rise in 5G is equivalent to the endorsement of Huawei and other Chinese companies from another level. Huawei’s comprehensive capabilities in chips, terminals, devices, and networks at 5G Being considered an important threat by the United States.

From chip to device to cloud, 5G will be the next battlefield. Behind 5G is not only the competition of technology, but also the economy, the competition of the country. Undoubtedly, any future acquisition that may weaken the influence of the United States in 5G will encounter Severe review. 'Hong Wei said.

Yang Guang said that last year's 5G patents were mainly focused on release 15. This year, it will compete in key technology areas such as release 16 and 5G. 2018 is also a key timeline for 5G. At this time, the U.S. government granted Qualcomm protection to the acquisition. Focus on 5G competition.

Of the 1,450 important patents for 5G networks in 2017, 10% were held by Chinese companies represented by Huawei. This number is expected to increase. Qualcomm, Nokia, and Ericsson have 15% and 11% respectively. 8%.

In Hong Wei’s view, Qualcomm is still the leader of 5G chips, followed by Intel, Hass, and Samsung. At the same time, Hong Weiwei pointed out that Qualcomm and Huawei have advantages in the industry chain, and the two companies are complementary. Role, In terms of 5G chips, Qualcomm still has more obvious advantages than Hass.

At present, Qualcomm has released a 5G baseband chip X50 for mobile terminals in 2016. Huawei released a Barron 5G01 for communication devices at this year's MWC.

Huawei indicated that it will not give up the US market, but the hostility that the United States has always maintained may have made it difficult for Huawei to have any idea in the short term.

Yang Guang said that from the current stage of Huawei’s entry into the United States and the US’s series of trade policies against China, the US market is difficult to enter. Even more worrying is that the US’s exclusion from Huawei may affect its presence in the European market. Business development.

"China's huge market size and Huawei's advantages in 5G. If we use the Chinese market as a lever, Huawei is likely to gain a clear lead over Ericsson and Nokia in the 5G era, and gain the same status as Qualcomm in the field of system equipment. As a result, the U.S. government may impose pressure on Europe by using trade policies as a means to limit Huawei's European operations. 'Yang Guang said.

According to the latest report of market research firm IHS Markit, in 2017, Huawei became the only telecommunications equipment company whose share increased, its share increased from 25% in 2016 to 28%, replacing Ericsson as the world’s No. 1. Currently, Huawei is Including BT, European telecom operators such as Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone jointly verify 5G equipment. Europe is a key area of ​​Huawei's business.

'What Huawei is going to do now is to soften its image and exchange for European trust. The media should also appropriately cool the coverage of Huawei.' Yang Guang suggested.

Although the outsiders regard Huawei as the biggest rival of Qualcomm, it appears to Huawei insiders that the history of the development of the communications industry is a history of seeking cooperation in the competition. Qualcomm and Huawei have also worked closely together as partners in 5G. Promoting 5G technology development should not be hostile.

"The development of the communications industry does not want to see a single big situation. Several competing situations are more conducive to the development of the industry. 'The person said. (Proofreading / Lechuan)

4 optimistic about the Chinese market, ASMI expects China's performance will achieve three times this year's growth

Original title: optimistic about the Chinese market, equipment supplier ASMI expects China's performance will achieve three times this year's growth

'Former ASMI has been focusing on technology research and development, but since last year, the company has adjusted its market strategy and started to strengthen market expansion and customer service. Therefore, we expect ASMI to achieve three times the market sales performance in the Chinese market in 2018.' Xu Wei, director of ASMI China Business Development, said during an interview with Micronet reporter during SEMICON China.

ASCI China Business Development Director Xu Lai

In fact, there are two famous equipment suppliers in the global semiconductor equipment industry with the name ASM, namely ASMI and ASM PT. Currently, they are all listed companies. According to Micronet, the two companies were founded by the same founder. ASMI and ASMPT are currently operating independently. ASMI is mainly responsible for the previous process, and ASMPT is the main process for the latter. The only relationship between the two is that ASMI is the largest shareholder of ASMPT, and the former holds 25% of the latter's shares.

Founded in the Netherlands in 1968, ASMI is one of the top ten equipment suppliers in the world. At present, ASMI has R&D centers and production bases in 7 countries around the world. It has 1900 employees. ASMI China is headquartered in Shanghai and throughout the country. Local locations with service and support, as well as local process engineering support for advanced technology research and development. At the same time, the company also stores parts locally to ensure that it can quickly serve customers' needs.

Has its own process integration center

According to Xu, the biggest advantage of ASMI is the ALD process, and ASMI is also the world's largest supplier of ALD process equipment. According to published data, ALD equipment is an indispensable thin film deposition equipment for advanced integrated circuit manufacturing processes. The ALD process has the advantages of low process temperature, precise film thickness control and high step coverage.

At present, ASMI cooperates with many Chinese chip manufacturers and has installed a number of devices from less than 200mm to 300mm. Oriented applications include logic/fabs, storage and analog manufacturing, and wafer market. It has been used in China. The production platforms include Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), Enhanced Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), Vertical Furnace, and Epitaxy.

It is reported that ASMI not only has R&D centers in Korea, Japan and the United States, but also has R&D centers in Belgium and Finland respectively. At the same time, Xu Lai said, 'The biggest difference between us and other equipment factories lies in: ASMI has its own process integration center. (Belgium). When we are doing advanced process research, we will find some applications. After discovering the applications, we will need the relevant materials, and then feedback to our material research center in Finland to study the corresponding material support processes. Finally, Feedback to the business unit to manufacture equipment according to requirements, provide to customers, and then update the equipment according to customer needs.

Optimistic about the growth of the future Chinese market

According to the latest content of the SEMI (International Semiconductor Industry Association)'s "Worldwide Fab Forecast Report" published on February 28, 2018, the global Fab equipment spending will increase by 5% in 2019, showing a fourth consecutive year of significant growth. Unless the original plan is drastically changed, China will be the main driver for the growth of equipment spending for global fabs in 2018 and 2019.

SEMI predicts that global fab equipment spending will be topped by Samsung in 2018 and 2019, but the investment amount is not as high as 2017. In contrast, in order to support multinational and local wafer fab programs, China will have 2018 Fab fab equipment spending will increase significantly by 57% from the previous year and by as much as 60% in 2019. The spending on equipment in mainland China is expected to surpass South Korea in 2019 and become the world’s highest expenditure area.

'Because of the strong growth performance of the Chinese market, ASMI has made a lot of changes since last year to strengthen its market expansion and customer service. 'Xu Lai said, 'Actually, ASMI has been in China for 20 years, so far in China. The installed capacity is about 200, covering all customers in China. Now Chongqing, Xuzhou, Guangzhou, Qingdao and other places have new customers, so the corresponding team also has to continue to expand.

Xu La believes that 'ASMI has received a lot of recognition around the world and is the best supplier of Intel and TSMC. With the increase of China's business in the future, we believe that we will get more domestic customers' recognition in China.'

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