SMSC buys USB 3.0 IC supplier

SMSC and Symwave were hardly strangers before the acquisition. Hauppauge, NY-based SMSC had previously made a $5.2 million equity investment in Laguna Niguel, Calif-based Symwave, resulting in a total equity stake of 14%. SMSC also recently provided $3.1 million in bridge financing to Symwave. SMSC did not provide further financial details on the acquisition.  

"SMSC has been a strong supporter of Symwave during some of the most challenging financial times in the history of our industry, and their backing enabled us to complete the product development and ramp our customers to production successfully," said Yossi Cohen, president and CEO of Symwave, in a statement today. "We are pleased to see a successful outcome for our employees and shareholders, our customers, and our suppliers. We envisioned the emergence of USB 3.0 over 2.5 years ago and are proud of having delivered on our vision with multiple successful products."

Cohen in October said the company was looking for a buyer as it needed financing to expand and meet demand.  According to reports, SMSC's investment agreements with Symwave included acquisition options.

The companies said Symwave's suite of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 compliant products and technology deliver up to 10 times the speed of USB 2.0 devices and target external storage, cellular phones, media players, camcorders, digital cameras, and other applications requiring high-speed data transfer capabilities. End products based on Symwave's storage controller were the industry's first to achieve the USB-IF's USB 3.0 certification in December 2009.

"As a market leader for USB solutions, SMSC remains at the forefront of technology evolution that enhances our strong portfolio to better serve our customers and create new growth opportunities for our company," said Christine King, SMSC's president and CEO, in the statement. "This led to our initial investment in Symwave in 2009, whose team of engineers has since delivered the industry's lowest power, highest performing storage products for the SuperSpeed USB market. With USB 3.0 now ready for mass deployment, SMSC is strengthening its market position through the addition of best-in-class USB 3.0 expertise to take advantage of this technological shift at the optimal time. We expect this IP will be broadly used throughout SMSC's connectivity product portfolio."

The companies continued to state that Symwave has developed standards-based physical layer (PHY), low-power analog front end (AFE) cores, ICs, and semiconductor system solutions. Symwave also provides software, reference designs, and a development environment for USB storage applications.

Symwave products have already been qualified by most of the major storage OEM companies worldwide and are shipping in excess of a million units per month. As such, SMSC expects the acquisition to contribute to its USB revenue and accelerate its entry into the USB 3.0 market.

Symwave has design centers in San Diego, and Shenzhen, China. More than two thirds of its 90 employees are in Asia. The acquisition closed on November 12.