Melexis' Marc Biron: China is still one of the company's important markets
Nov 28,2022
According to eeNews, Melexis, a Belgian fabless chip manufacturer, has been at the core of chip shortage and shows no signs of stopping.
"From the perspective of education, semiconductor is the new gold," Marc Biron, CEO, told eeNews Europe. "Your car, your personal computer, your mobile phone, your PS5, because of semiconductors, these are great devices. Now, because of the chip shortage and chip bill, semiconductors are more concerned, so it is very important to rebuild the ecosystem in Europe, which is very weak at present."
The vast majority of the company's business is in the automotive field. The Hall effect and time of flight sensors are manufactured by the European OEM factory X-Fab. The shortage has led to significant changes in business.
"We have been involved in semiconductor shortage and supply and demand mismatch. We have discussed with suppliers and customers to match demand and supply as much as possible, and distribute in the best way we can," said Biron. He succeeded the current Chairman Fran ç oise Chombar in August 2021.
The company's sales in the last quarter were EUR 219 million (USD 219 million), up 5% month on month and 35% year on year. It expects sales of about 220 million euros in the fourth quarter, an increase of about 29% for the whole year.
Chip shortage
"This is very interesting, because we have contacted original equipment manufacturers that we have never met before, and I think we will take this as a basis, but most customers acknowledge that Melexis has tried to solve the problem, and we have a very open communication with everyone," Byron said.
"Today, the proportion of the automobile industry is 90/10, and now it is 80/20, but it is difficult to increase non automobile business because we need to allocate wafers to automobile customers," he said. "So we are not talking about business creation, but about management shortage. But I really believe that in the next few months, we will resume demand creation.
"All our innovative applications are still being allocated, and the supply and demand do not match - we think this mismatch of these products will not end," he said.
"In the third quarter, the outstanding product line was the current sensor and driver, which was steadily driven by the high demand for electric vehicle applications. In addition, our environmental lighting products continue to flourish in automotive comfort applications."
"We need to improve Melexis's testing capability with new equipment, and the delivery time of this equipment is quite long." He said.
China
He said that China, like South Korea and Asia, is an important market for the company, but it is not affected by supply chain or trade issues.
"From the perspective of pure supply chain, Melexis is almost not affected, because we do not use Chinese suppliers, most of the assembly is not in China, and all our testing and detection are not in China, so we are not affected," he said.
"We do have a business creation team in China, and we have adjusted the working methods related to Covid," he said. "We have done a good job. We can still create many new opportunities and complete some design victories. The important thing is that China is in the leading position in electrification. There are more and more electronic products in cars, so this business is very important."
"From the perspective of education, semiconductor is the new gold," Marc Biron, CEO, told eeNews Europe. "Your car, your personal computer, your mobile phone, your PS5, because of semiconductors, these are great devices. Now, because of the chip shortage and chip bill, semiconductors are more concerned, so it is very important to rebuild the ecosystem in Europe, which is very weak at present."
The vast majority of the company's business is in the automotive field. The Hall effect and time of flight sensors are manufactured by the European OEM factory X-Fab. The shortage has led to significant changes in business.
"We have been involved in semiconductor shortage and supply and demand mismatch. We have discussed with suppliers and customers to match demand and supply as much as possible, and distribute in the best way we can," said Biron. He succeeded the current Chairman Fran ç oise Chombar in August 2021.
The company's sales in the last quarter were EUR 219 million (USD 219 million), up 5% month on month and 35% year on year. It expects sales of about 220 million euros in the fourth quarter, an increase of about 29% for the whole year.
Chip shortage
"This is very interesting, because we have contacted original equipment manufacturers that we have never met before, and I think we will take this as a basis, but most customers acknowledge that Melexis has tried to solve the problem, and we have a very open communication with everyone," Byron said.
"Today, the proportion of the automobile industry is 90/10, and now it is 80/20, but it is difficult to increase non automobile business because we need to allocate wafers to automobile customers," he said. "So we are not talking about business creation, but about management shortage. But I really believe that in the next few months, we will resume demand creation.
"All our innovative applications are still being allocated, and the supply and demand do not match - we think this mismatch of these products will not end," he said.
"In the third quarter, the outstanding product line was the current sensor and driver, which was steadily driven by the high demand for electric vehicle applications. In addition, our environmental lighting products continue to flourish in automotive comfort applications."
"We need to improve Melexis's testing capability with new equipment, and the delivery time of this equipment is quite long." He said.
China
He said that China, like South Korea and Asia, is an important market for the company, but it is not affected by supply chain or trade issues.
"From the perspective of pure supply chain, Melexis is almost not affected, because we do not use Chinese suppliers, most of the assembly is not in China, and all our testing and detection are not in China, so we are not affected," he said.
"We do have a business creation team in China, and we have adjusted the working methods related to Covid," he said. "We have done a good job. We can still create many new opportunities and complete some design victories. The important thing is that China is in the leading position in electrification. There are more and more electronic products in cars, so this business is very important."