ESilicon

Infobox Company
company_name = eSilicon Corporation
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = 2000
location =
key_people = Jack Harding, Founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
industry = Semiconductors, Electronics
products = ASICs
num_employees = 115 (2008)
homepage = [http://www.esilicon.com/ www.esilicon.com]

eSilicon is a fabless semiconductor company founded in 2000 and based in Sunnyvale, California. eSilicon designs and manufactures digital CMOS ASICs. eSilicon is considered a pioneer of the fabless ASIC model and is the world's largest fabless ASIC supplier. [cite web|url=http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207502059&pgno=1|title=ASIC specialist eSilicon expands strategy, seeks acquisitions|date=2008-5-06]

Locations

eSilicon's headquarters is in Sunnyvale, California. eSilicon has offices in Allentown, PA, New Providence, NJ, Bucharest, Romania, and Yokohama, Japan.

History

Since its founding in 2000 eSilicon has received a total of $86M in venture capital. [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_n9523908|title=eSilicon Corporation Secures $15 Million In Funding|date=2005-2-14] In 2002 eSilicon became widely known as the supplier of a key Apple Ipod ASIC through PortalPlayer. [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EKF/is_/ai_82571938|title=eSilicon: Outsource and thrive - Design Strategies|date=2002-1-21] 2004 revenues reached $91M largely driven by ASICs for the iPod. In 2006 Apple announced that they were changing their iPod ASIC strategy and eSilicon no longer supplies ASICs for the iPod. [cite web|url=http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=186100394|title=PortalPlayer dealt setback at Apple
date=2006-4-19] Following the loss of the iPod business eSilicon diversified its customer base and announced in May 2008 that they were profitable and shipping ASICs to over 50 customers. [cite web|url=http://www.design-reuse.com/news/18298/esilicon.html|title=eSilicon Achieves Significant Milestone by Booking Production Orders from More Than Fifty Customers|date=2008-5-22] In January 2008 eSilicon acquired the assets of Swedish based ethernet networking switch supplier SwitchCore AB and announced that they would seek further acquisitions. [cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS107589+14-Jan-2008+BW20080114|title=eSilicon: eSilicon Acquires SwitchCore's Product Lines|date=2008-1-14] Rumors of eSilicon preparing to file for an IPO have circulated on and off since 2003. [cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2003/09/15/smallb2.html|title=Latest VC funding has eSilicon thinking IPO|date=2003-9-12] [cite web|url=http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2006/10/24/40006/ipo-on-the-cards-for-esilicon-next-year.htm|title=IPO on the cards for eSilicon next year|date=2006-10-24] [cite web|url=http://www.edn.com/article/CA6453011.html
title=eSilicon unveils "HardCore" macrocell program|date=2007-6-18]

Products

eSilicon provides physical design, design for test insertion, package design, product qualification, IP licensing, and manufacturing services for digital CMOS ASICs. eSilicon has announced products in .25um, .18um, .13um, 90nm, 65nm, and 40nm process technologies. Customer ASICs have been announced in a wide range of applications including digital cameras, portable multimedia players, inkjet printers, networking, and high performance computing. In February 2008 it was announced that eSilicon had licensed Avago Technologies high performance 90nm and 65nm SerDes technology for use in eSilicon's customer's designs. [cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS162879+27-Feb-2008+BW20080227|title=eSilicon Licenses Avago Technologies' High Performance Embedded SerDes Cores|date=2008-2-27]

Manufacturing

As a fabless company eSilicon outsources all semiconductor manufacturing to merchant foundries. Since eSilicon's founding it has had a relationship with TSMC as its primary foundry partner. [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_114012168|title=eSilicon Joins TSMC Design Center Alliance; Custom Chip Provider Further Streamlines Silicon Delivery Process|date=2004-3-08] eSilicon also outsources all package assembly and test.

References

External links

* [http://www.eSilicon.com/ eSilicon homepage]