The Q&A section on this blog might not be too visible, but as you can see here, it actually works: steve asks this interesting question:
Why the $3B data converter market is dominated by the six US companies: ADI, TI, Maxim, LinearTech, National Semi and Intersil. Have any one heard of any data converter companies out of the US?
… and I felt it deserved a dedicated post where you can all have your say. So, what do you all think? And what other companies have you heard of? Do you even agree with steve that it is these six that dominate? If not, who are?
Edit: I’ll be working on the list(s) below, trying to get it as complete as I possibly can. With your help it should work. Just keep suggesting data converter companies to add here. My proposal is to limit the list to companies that provide stand-alone data converters and/or data converter IP. Companies providing data-converter related design services and expert consulting could of course be interesting too, and perhaps go into a second list. [That way I can include my own company, ADMS Design too 😉 ]
Edit 2011-04-09: As you might have heard, Texas Instruments is to acquire National Semiconductor. Read more about it here.
And then there were only five … 😉
The “Big Six”
As the question was asked by steve, we get the following list of six US data converter companies – dubbed the “Big Six” by jjwikner below – that (supposedly) dominate the ADC and DAC market. Here in alphabetical order:
- Analog Devices
- Intersil
- Linear Technology
- Maxim
- National Semiconductor (Edit: Now acquired by TI)
- Texas Instruments
The list is not written in stone. Have your say below. Should it be the big 3, 4, 5, 7 instead? How about data converter IP dominance – is that a completely different list of companies? And don’t forget the original question: why are all of these companies US-based? Something in the US water? Engineering tradition? Business culture? Choice of target applications? Are the leading Asian companies keeping their designs for in-house use, or did they simply bypass the stand-alone converter phase altogether? Are they now positioning themselves for the inevitable embedded data converter era by developing IP blocks for SoC designs?
The complete list?
To the best of my knowledge, and with the kind help of my blog readers, this is the “complete list” (*) of companies offering data converter IP or stand-alone parts. Again, in alphabetical order, and with the Big Six included:
- Anacatum Design
- Analog Devices
- AnaLutions
- Asahi Kasei Microdevices
- Austria Microsystems
- Axiom IC
- Berkeley Analog
- Cactus Semiconductor
- Cadeka
- Cambridge Analog Technologies
- Chipus
- Cirrus Logic
- CoCo Chip IC Design Services
- Cosmic Circuits
- Custom Silicon Solutions
- e2v
- ESS Technology
- Fujitsu
- Hittite
- Intersil
- Kapik Integration
- Linear Technology
- Maxim
- Mobility Semiconductor
- National Semiconductor
- Nordic Semiconductor
- NXP
- S3 Group
- SandChip Semiconductor Design Associates
- STMicroelectronics
- Synopsys
- Texas Instruments
- Wolfson Microelectronics
(*) Allow the list a reasonable settling time constant, and please send me an email or post a comment below if you know of any company not included in the list, or have any other remarks.
NB: I have not necessarily made an assessment of the individual companies included in the list, and the list is therefore no statement of the quality or suitability of the products/IP offered for a particular purpose, nor an endorsement of the company itself.
The list seems very US and Euro-centric, but that’s my current horizon. I’m sure there must be some Asian companies out there. Scientific activity actually suggests that Asia is going to take over this business eventually. So, please enlighten me! Where are those Asian companies?