Lattice Semiconductor
Lattice logo | |
Company type | Public (Nasdaq: LSCC) |
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Industry | Integrated Circuits |
Founded | 1983, public since 1989 |
Headquarters | Hillsboro, Oregon, United States 45°31′38″N 122°55′36″W / 45.527216°N 122.926626°W |
Key people | Darin Billerbeck, CEO |
Products | FPGAs, CPLDs |
Revenue | $318 million (2011)[1] |
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Number of employees | 700 (2011)[2] |
Website | www.latticesemi.com |
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: LSCC) is a United States based manufacturer of high-performance programmable logic devices (FPGAs, CPLDs, & SPLDs).[3] Founded in 1983, the company employs about 700 people and has annual revenues of around $300 million, with Darin Billerbeck as the chief executive officer.[4] The Oregon-based company is the number three ranked company in world market share for field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices,[5] and number two for CPLDs & SPLDs.[6] The company went public in 1989 and is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
History
Lattice was founded on April 3, 1983, by C. Norman Winningstad, Rahul Sud, and Ray Capece.[7] Winningstad, Harry Merlo, Tom Moyer, and John Piacentini were the early investors in the company.[7] Co-founder Sud left as president in December 1986, and Winningstad left in 1991 as chairman of the board.[7] Lattice was incorporated in Oregon in 1983 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1985. Early struggles led to chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in July 1987.[7] The company emerged from bankruptcy after 62 days and moved into a smaller headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon, from what was then an unincorporated area near Beaverton.[8]
The next year the company posted then record revenues while shrinking from 140 employees to 75 employees after the bankruptcy.[9] Cyrus Tsui became the company's chief executive officer in 1988.[10] On November 9, 1989, Lattice became a publicly traded company when its shares were listed on the NASDAQ after in initial public offering.[11] The initial share price was $6, and raised almost $14 million in capital for the company.[11] In July 1990, Lattice raised an additional $22.6 million from a second stock offering, selling nearly 1.5 million new shares at $16.25 per share.[12]
In 1995, the company attempted to assert trademark rights in the term Silicon Forest beyond the use of its trademark for the use in semiconductor devices.[13] They had registered the mark in 1985, but later conceded they could not prevent the usage of the term as a noun.[13] Forbes ranked the company as their 162nd best small company in the United States in 1996.[14]
In 1996, Lattice began expansions at its Hillsboro, Oregon, headquarters to double the size of the facility.[10] The company grew to annual revenues of more than $560 million and profits in excess of $160 million in 2000.[15] Its stock price reached an all-time high that year of $41.34 per share, as adjusted for stock splits.[15] Lattice purchased Agere Corporation's FPGA division in 2002.[16] Steve Skaggs was hired as CEO in 2005, replacing Cyrus Tsui.[16] That year, Lattice had layoffs for the first time in company history.[16] For fiscal year 2006 Lattice posted a profit of $3.1 million on revenues of $245.5 million, this was the first annual profit for the company since 2000.[17]
In 2004 the company settled charges with the United States government that it had illegally exported certain technologies to China, paying a fine of $560,000.[18] In June 2008, Bruno Guilmart was named as chief executive officer of the company, replacing Steve Skaggs.[19] For fiscal year 2008, Lattice had a loss of $32 million on annual revenues of $222.3 million.[20] In 2009, the company began moving all of its warehouse operations for parts from Oregon to Singapore.[21] Through July 2009, the company had lost money for ten straight quarters,[22] and had its first profitable quarter in three years during the fourth quarter of 2009.[23] Bruno Guilmart left the company in August 2010, and Darin Billerbeck who just sold Zilog in last year, was named the new CEO in October of that year, starting in November.[24] The company reported 2011 revenue of $318 million.[25] For the first quarter of 2012 Lattice reported revenue of $71.7 million.[26] Lattice reported revenue of $70.8 million for the second quarter of 2012.[27] Lattice started a stock buy-back program in 2010 that continued into 2012 that would total about $35 million if fully implemented.[28]
SiliconBlue Acquisition
On December 9, 2011, Lattice announced it was acquiring SiliconBlue, a programmable logic company specializing in very small, low cost, low power FPGAs for the consumer and mobile electronics market (e.g. smartphones, tablets, e-readers, notebooks, cameras). Lattice paid $63.2 million for SiliconBlue. Utilizing a single chip, ultra-low power Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) fabric, SiliconBlue's mobileFPGA devices enable mobile designers to quickly add features to their mobile platform in areas such as connectivity, memory / storage, sensor management, and video / imaging.[29] According to journalist Kevin Morris, "this is the kind of merger that makes sense – giving a bigger audience and a stronger vehicle to deliver SiliconBlue’s novel technology and strategy, creating a path for extending the life and the capability of some of Lattice’s key revenue products, and accelerating Lattice’s expansion into one of the key green fields for programmable logic – low-cost, low-power programmable devices for the high-volume mobile market."[30]
Foundry Agreement with UMC
On July 9, 2012 Lattice announced a long term technology partnership with United Microelectronics Corporation, a leading global semiconductor foundry. According to Lattice, Lattice and UMC intend to work on non-volatile products based on advanced technology nodes (40nm and, eventually, 28nm) and then expand their efforts to include other Lattice product lines. Strategically, the UMC agreement is seen as complementary to the earlier acquisition of SiliconBlue, in that it gives Lattice a foundry partner that can deliver products using the SiliconBlue technology. According to journalist Loring Wirbel, "the greatest excitement is gaining access to UMC’s new 28-nm HLP process. New products are expected to emerge from the alliance by 2013. For many years, analysts have spoken of Xilinx and Altera as the Big Two, followed by a range of smaller players. It’s pretty clear the FPGA market is morphing into the Big Four – Xilinx, Altera, Lattice, and Microsemi Corp. – which startups like Tabula Inc. will have to challenge."[31]
Third Quarter 2012 Results, Restructuring and Emphasis on Low Density Market
On October 18, Lattice announced third quarter revenue of $70.9 million. At the same time, Lattice announced a restructuring of the company designed to better align its cost structure with revenue and to enable a stronger focus on the market for low density and ultra-low density programmable logic devices.[32] Prior to this announcement, Lattice had already been emphasizing its lower density devices, which it believes can compete effectively in the programmable logic market. As journalist Kevin Morris wrote, "Lattice has carefully analyzed the applications for lower-density devices and crafted their offerings to win specific high-value market segments. It is a strategy that has worked well for them, and it has brought their company back from the brink of failure to a respectable level of success."[33] Financial analysts have generally reacted positively to Lattice's low density strategy, with Jefferies & Co. opining that Lattice is taking market share from its larger competitors.[34]
Operations
In addition to CPLDs & SPLDs, Lattice also manufactures field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable mixed-signal and interconnect products, related software and intellectual property (IP).[35] Lattice's main products are the ECP and XP series of FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), the Mach series of CPLDs (complex programmable logic devices), the ispPAC POWR series of programmable power management products (programmable mixed signal) and Lattice Diamond design software.[36] At the 90nm node, Lattice offers a variety of FPGA devices. Products are used in a variety of end uses, such as flat-panel televisions and laptops.[19]
The company is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, in the high-tech area known as the Silicon Forest. The company employs 700 people worldwide, with approximately 250 of those at company headquarters. Darin Billerbeck is Lattice's chief executive officer.[2] Among its chief competitors are Xilinx, Altera, Actel and QuickLogic.[37]
References
- ^ Siemers, Eric (January 26, 2012). Lattice Q4 profit climbs on tax benefit Portland Business Journal.
- ^ a b c Rogoway, Mike (January 27, 2011). Lattice concludes comeback year, but says growth will slow The Oregonian.
- ^ Ken Cheung, EDA Geek. "Lattice Semiconductor Unveils ispLEVER Classic v1.2 Design Tool Suite." August 25, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Stevens, Suzanne (October 12, 2010). Lattice hires Darin Billerbeck as CEO Portland Business Journal.
- ^ FPGA Developer, July 15, 2011 List and comparison of FPGA companies
- ^ Baldwin, Howard (June 22, 2006). "Dynamic Duo Still Dominate Programmable Logic". Movers and Shakers 2006. EDN. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ a b c d Colby, Richard (April 3, 1991). "Co-founder of Lattice steps down". The Oregonian. p. C8.
- ^ "Lattice eyes new location". The Oregonian. October 9, 1987. pp. E14.
- ^ Colby, Richard (April 1, 1988). "Lattice profit yields final pay to creditors". The Oregonian. pp. E7.
- ^ a b Hill, Jim (October 12, 1996). "All systems go for Lattice on big expansion in Hillsboro". The Oregonian. p. B1.
- ^ a b "Lattice stock brings company cash flow". November 10, 1989. pp. E10.
- ^ "Lattice finishes stock offering". The Oregonian. July 24, 1990. pp. C13.
- ^ a b Francis, Mike (December 3, 1995). "Who owns 'Silicon Forest'?". The Oregonian. p. G1.
- ^ "The Bottom Line Briefcase: Forbes ranks six of region's small firms among nation's best". The Oregonian. October 24, 1996. pp. B1.
- ^ a b Earnshaw, Aliza (January 24, 2008). "Lattice's 2007 sales and earnings slide". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ a b c Earnshaw, Aliza (August 18, 2006). "Lattice hopes good news isn't fleeting". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ Earnshaw, Aliza (January 25, 2007). "Lattice: First annual profits since 2000". High Tech - Semiconductors. Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
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(help) - ^ "Lattice Semiconductor Settles Charges of Illegal Exports to China". U.S. Department of Commerce. September 13, 2004. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ a b Earnshaw, Aliza (November 14, 2008). "Lattice CEO focuses on the bottom line". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ Njus, Elliot (August 6, 2010). "Chief executive who helmed turnaround at Lattice Semiconductor resigns". The Oregonian. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
- ^ "Lattice to eliminate 64 jobs". Portland Business Journal. July 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (July 23, 2009). "Lattice posts 10th straight quarterly loss, plans job cuts". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (January 28, 2010). "Lattice Semiconductor back in the black during fourth quarter". The Oregonian. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (October 12, 2010). "Lattice Semi names Intel vet its new CEO". The Oregonian. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
- ^ Njus, Elliot. "Lattice Semiconductor posts higher fourth quarter, 2011 earnings amid lower demand". The Oregonian. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (April 19, 2012). "Lattice Semi slips into the red as sales fall 13 percent in first quarter". The Oregonian. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (July 19, 2012). Lattice Semiconductor reports lower quarterly results The Oregonian.
- ^ Siemers, Erik (February 29, 2012). "Lattice to repurchase up to $20 million in stock". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
- ^ Maxfield, Max, Programmable Logic DesignLine, December 9, 2011 OMG! Lattice Semiconductor to acquire SiliconBlue!
- ^ Morris, Kevin, EE Journal, Silicon Symbiosis-Lattice Acquires SiliconBlue, December 13, 2011 Silicon Symbiosis
- ^ Wirbel, Loring (July 10, 2012). The Missing Puzzle-Piece FPGA Gurus.
- ^ Siemers, Eric, Portland Business Journal, October 18, 2012 Lattice Semiconductor to cut 109 jobs, 30 in Hillsboro
- ^ Morris, Kevin, Electronic Engineering Journal, July 31, 2012 When the Bottom Drops Out
- ^ Street Insider.com, October 19, 2012 Jefferies Says Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) Taking Share from Competitors
- ^ Clive Maxfield, EE Times. "Lattice enhances its wireless base station portfolio." Jun 23, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ^ Morris, Kevin (June 29, 2010). Lattice Turns Up the Tools Electronic Engineering Journal.
- ^ John Edwards (June 1, 2006). "No room for Second Place." EDN. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
External links
Media related to Lattice Semiconductor at Wikimedia Commons
- Lattice CEO resigns - Portland Business Journal