Talking about Renesas Electronics' operating secrets in the MCU market

As the world's No. 1 MCU (MicroControllerUnit) supplier, Renesas, which has a market share of more than 30%, has achieved good performance in the global MCU market in recent years, which is enough to become a model for Japanese technology companies, and Japanese companies are careful The characteristics of being responsible, emphasizing quality and efficiency, make Renesas a good fish in the MCU market that places great emphasis on service content and medium and long-term partnerships, and set a goal of reaching 35% of the global MCU market in 5 years.
In order to further understand Renesas’ business secrets in the MCU market, this newspaper specially interviewed Norishige Kawashimo, manager of Renesas’ MCU business division. The following is the interview content.

Question: Faced with the shorter and shorter life cycle of terminal products, but the speed of product development is getting faster and faster, how should MCU suppliers meet customer needs?

Answer: At present, MCU suppliers generally adopt a platform-based concept, using core MCUs, adding peripheral IP, embedded memory, and wireless chip model platform models to meet the needs of customers to develop products faster, more efficient, and lower cost Demand.

In addition to providing MCU platforms for customers, Renesas also specially puts forward the concept of holistic solutions. Aiming at the high-efficiency, low-power, or low-cost requirements of downstream customers, it proposes more suitable MCU solutions. This shows the performance and functional requirements of the client's terminal products. At the same time, the client can use the self-test function of the related software to greatly shorten the trial production process of the chip and terminal products in the past. It can then develop and complete new products on its own, and strengthen the market competitiveness of its terminal products.

Question: If MCU suppliers adopt a platform-style sales concept, how can they strengthen the differentiation of their terminal products? How will Renesas help this differentiation expand?

Talking about Renesas Electronics' operating secrets in the MCU market

Answer: Renesas has been observing the use of MCUs by end customers for some time. They are roughly divided into three product design orientations: high efficiency, low power consumption, and low cost. Therefore, in response to such needs, we use our own technology Leading advantage, in particular, different MCU solutions are proposed, and the best price/performance ratio in the market is guaranteed, so that customers using our MCU solutions will be able to easily show their product features.

In addition, Renesas also has demand for low-cost products specific to emerging countries and the mainland market. In particular, low-cost MCU solutions can have the performance of 16-bit MCUs, but only the price of 8-bit MCUs, 32-bit MCUs The performance only pays the price of 16-bit MCU, and so on, to meet the special needs of local customers.

Q: Renesas has maintained its leading position in the global MCU market for many years. What is the secret? For the global emerging countries and the mainland market, what special business methods and sales strategies are there?

Answer: Renesas understands very well that to successfully expand the MCU market, close cooperation with downstream customers and third-party vendors (Thethirtyparty) is very important. Therefore, we have the GSL (Global Segment Leader) plan, which is to look at major brands in various markets around the world. , Through the close cooperation with it or its partner manufacturers to increase the success rate of the company’s products, and at the same time increase the market share. At present, Renesas has more than 7,000 customers and cooperating factories worldwide, all of which we can maintain high The most important weapon of market share.

As for the global emerging countries and the mainland market, Renesas Electronics also sees the growth potential of its huge population. Taking the mainland market as an example, Renesas Electronics has a R&D team in Beijing. For the special needs of the local market, the Beijing R&D team has products The leading power for specification formulation and market development. At the same time, the subsequent packaging, testing and marketing are also completely handled by the local team. Japan is only responsible for wafer manufacturing. Through this decentralization, Renesas is able to grasp a new wave of growth opportunities, especially the economic growth strength of the increasingly valued global emerging countries and the mainland market.

Question: MCU is a highly customized application chip, so the visibility of orders that can be grasped is also longer. How do you view the operating performance of Renesas Electronics in 2011?

Answer: Renesas hopes that through GSL, NPP, NSP and other programs, coupled with high-efficiency, low-power consumption and low-cost MCU solutions, Renesas’ market share will continue to grow. We hope that in the next 5 years, every year The global MCU market share can grow by 1%, which means that in 5 years, Renesas's global MCU market share must reach 35%.