Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation and ABLIC Inc. to Ally in Mixed Signal IC business

TOKYO and CHIBA--Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba”) and ABLIC Inc. (“ABLIC”) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on an alliance in the mixed signal IC^[1] business. The companies will consider how to combine their products to support solutions development, and look to enter into an alliance in July.

Drawing on their respective strengths, Toshiba and ABLIC propose to ally in investigating new technologies, products and solutions, and the co-development of reference designs for mixed signal ICs. The main goal is to realize highly efficient power control solutions built on Toshiba’s microcontrollers and wireless communication ICs, plus ABLIC’s power control ICs.

The growth of the Internet of Things is driving demand growth for semiconductors for industrial and medical equipment that consume less power and are housed in small packages. The companies will combine Toshiba’s development capabilities in microcontrollers and wireless communication ICs with ABLIC’s design know-how in small, low power consumption power control ICs business, and seek to deliver products that realize high-precision power management for a wide range of customers.

Toshiba draws on wide ranging capabilities in microcontrollers, analog ICs and motor drivers to promote its solutions business, and also welcomes alliances with other industry leaders with complementary capabilities. Through the MOU with ABLIC Toshiba aims to enhance the value of its mixed signal IC business by utilizing ABLIC’s competitive technologies and delivering solutions to customers in diverse businesses.

ABLIC delivers low power, high accuracy small-sized analog ICs for consumer, telecommunication and automotive products. ABLIC has also worked with academia and partner companies to promote development of battery-less technology, all of which store and boost minute voltage. By combining Toshiba’s wide ranging technologies with its own strengths in low power consumption technologies, ABLIC aims to boost its IoT solutions business.

Notes
[1] Mixed signal IC: Semiconductor which processes both a digital signal and analog signal in a chip