In a recent market report prepared by Strategy Analytics, RF semiconductor supplier and gallium arsenide (GaAs) foundry service provider TriQuint Semiconductor has been named as the largest supplier of GaAs foundry services in 2006. It is also expected to continue to lead the market this year. The company offers a wide range of processes that can cater to high volume and high-value services. According to this report, TriQuint market segment share for the year ending 2006 was estimated at 40%, nearly double that of its nearest competitor. It is also one of the largest suppliers to the military markets.

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However, Taiwan's Win Semiconductor was named as the world's largest pure-play GaAs foundry company. As a privately held company with strong financial backing from its investors, Win Semiconductor has been able to continually invest in new process technology and resources,” observed Strategy Analytics' director Asif Anwar, speaking at the recent European Microwave Week 2007 in Munich, Germany. “With expansion plans in place that will effectively increase the company's wafer capacity by 200% in 2008, Win Semiconductor is well positioned to stretch its lead over competitors.”

“Together, TriQuint and Win Semiconductor accounted for more than 60% of the total GaAs foundry market in 2006,” noted Stephen Entwistle vice president, Strategic Technologies Practice. “While TriQuint is not a pure-play foundry, the foundry services offered by TriQuint are an integral component of the company's success and TriQuint will continue to be the world's largest GaAs foundry in 2007.”

Glen Riley, vice president of commercial foundry for TriQuint, explained that “TriQuint's broad selection of GaAs foundry technologies are not only cost effective in volume production, but offer a lower design cost than silicon, making them an ideal technology choice for established semiconductor companies and cash-strapped start-ups. A $30,000 GaAs mask set (tooling) is a lot easier on company budgets than a $1 million plus submicron silicon mask set.” Also, Riley noted that TriQuint is investigating opportunities for GaAs technologies in several new and emerging markets such as mobile satellite TV.

Additionally, this summer, TriQuint was recognized as one of three market leaders in the world's top 10 GaAs device manufacturers report by Strategy Analytics. As described in the report, “TriQuint's diverse product portfolio and expertise allows the company to balance cyclical high-volume markets with demand for its products in high-value applications in wireless infrastructure, space and defense applications.”

For more information, visit www.triquint.com/rf, www.winfoundry.com and www.strategyanalytics.com.