English
Comment: A skeptic's view of the Microchip/Atmel merger
Bernie Cole
EE Times (10/03/2008 7:53 PM EDT)
Based on watching electronics companies try to merge and manage two different product lines over the years, I don't think Microchip's plans for supporting combined 8/16- and 32-bit MCU product lines, if its attempted acquisition of Atmel succeeds, is realistic.
History suggests that a company with two 8/16-bit microcontroller architectures and at least two different 32-bit CPU architectures will not survive very long. One of three outcomes is likely: the company will crash and burn in the effort, one or the other architecture will go into the dustbin of history, or the company will sell off one of them, the way Microchip plans to sell Atmel's nonvolatile memory and RF and automotive businesses to On Semiconductor.
A look at the industry's history reveals that trying to support more than one architecture just does not work. In the recent past, Intel Corp. was juggling three different architectures, targeting three different markets: the DEC StrongARM-derived PXA2xx targeting mobile and consumer designs, the IXP4xx family of network processors it also acquired from DEC, and the X86 architecture targeted at desktops, laptops and servers. What we have now is a single architecture from Intel, targeting all these segments.
EE Times (10/03/2008 7:53 PM EDT)
Based on watching electronics companies try to merge and manage two different product lines over the years, I don't think Microchip's plans for supporting combined 8/16- and 32-bit MCU product lines, if its attempted acquisition of Atmel succeeds, is realistic.
History suggests that a company with two 8/16-bit microcontroller architectures and at least two different 32-bit CPU architectures will not survive very long. One of three outcomes is likely: the company will crash and burn in the effort, one or the other architecture will go into the dustbin of history, or the company will sell off one of them, the way Microchip plans to sell Atmel's nonvolatile memory and RF and automotive businesses to On Semiconductor.
A look at the industry's history reveals that trying to support more than one architecture just does not work. In the recent past, Intel Corp. was juggling three different architectures, targeting three different markets: the DEC StrongARM-derived PXA2xx targeting mobile and consumer designs, the IXP4xx family of network processors it also acquired from DEC, and the X86 architecture targeted at desktops, laptops and servers. What we have now is a single architecture from Intel, targeting all these segments.
|
E-mail This Article | 
|
|
Printer-Friendly Page |
Related News
- Microchip's Sanghi: Why we want Atmel
- Microchip's Low-Cost PolarFire® SoC Discovery Kit Makes RISC-V and FPGA Design More Accessible for a Wider Range of Embedded Engineers
- BrainChip to Unveil Akida Neuromorphic Processor Enabled by Microchip's 32-bit MPU at CES 2024
- GlobalFoundries and Microchip Announce Microchip's 28nm SuperFlash® Embedded Flash Memory Solution in Production
- Microchip's PolarFire® FPGA's Single-Chip Crypto Design Flow "Successfully Reviewed" By the United Kingdom Government's National Cyber Security Centre
Breaking News
- Thalia's AMALIA 24.2 introduces pioneering estimated parasitics feature to reduce PEX iterations by at least 30%
- TSMC plans 1.6nm process for 2026
- Qualitas Semiconductor Partners with TUV Rheinland Korea to Enhance ISO 26262 Functional Safety Management System
- M31 has successfully launched MIPI C/D PHY Combo IP on the advanced TSMC 5nm process
- Ceva multi-protocol wireless IP could simplify IoT MCU and SoC development
Most Popular
- Controversial former Arm China CEO founds RISC-V chip startup
- Siemens collaborates with TSMC on design tool certifications for the foundry's newest processes and other enablement milestones
- Credo at TSMC 2024 North America Technology Symposium
- Synopsys Accelerates Next-Level Chip Innovation on TSMC Advanced Processes
- Kalray Joins Arm Total Design, Extending Collaboration with Arm on Accelerated AI Processing