Peter Clarke, EE Times
(10/12/2009 7:41 AM EDT)
LONDON — The appointment of Rick Clemmer, to lead NXP BV, replacing technologist Frans van Houten, inevitably led to speculation that Clemmer was being put in place to asset-strip the company on behalf the private equity ownership team led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Company.
Nine months on and those concerns are still present as Clemmer talks about a smaller and more focused NXP. How much smaller can NXP go in an industry where scale and critical mass has always been significant? How much more can be chopped off the once-great company before the whole thing flies apart?