More automotive IDMs are following in NXP's footsteps and looking to expand their partner ecosystems in Taiwan, according to industry sources.
NXP has already signed MoUs with Foxconn, Delta Electronics, and Inventec, and other automotive IDMs do not want to be left behind, seeking to also sign pacts with Taiwanese firms, the sources said.
Taiwan boasts a complete supply chain covering upstream foundry houses and downstream ICT system integrators and assemblers. Such an ecosystem can be adapted to also cater for the automotive value chain, the sources said.
Haviv Ilan, who is set to become the president and CEO of Texas Instruments (TI) on April 1, recently visited Taiwan. He is said to have visited several ICT companies, including Foxconn, the sources said.
A key executive in charge of Infineon's automotive applications reportedly also came to Taiwan earlier. From Japan's Renesas, senior vice president and co-general manager of the automotive solutions business unit Takeshi Kataoka, and Ro Chawla, vice president of automotive business unit sales for the Asia Pacific region, will both attend a forum organized by the Taiwan Advanced Automotive Technology Development Association (TADA).
Taiwan's CT supply chains had been unable to find a path into the automotive ecosystem, but the IDMs now work as a bridge between Taiwanese firms and the automakers, the sources said.
Major Taiwanese electronics product manufacturers, including Quanta and Foxconn, have already crossed into the automotive sector. Power solution supplier Delta Electronics has also made major gains in the electric vehicle market.
In the semiconductor sector, carmakers are devoting more resources to IC design and deepening their collaboration with IDMs, the sources said.
Taiwan-based foundry houses, such as TSMC, UMC and VIS, are all partners of IDMs and tier-1 car component suppliers.
TI confirmed that Ilan made a visit to Taiwan last week, but was attending mainly "internal meetings." TI declined to disclose details of his itinerary. Foxconn did not respond to this report.
But industry sources said it is not difficult to imagine who Ilan had been meeting with during his stay in Taiwan and what they had been talking.
Ilan, a 24-year veteran of TI, will succeed the company's current president and CEO, Rich Templeton, who will remain chairman of the board.
TI said the transition is a well-planned succession that follows Ilan's promotion to senior vice president in 2014, executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2020, and election to the board of directors in 2021.
Ilan has served in a variety of senior management roles at TI, including leading businesses in both analog and embedded processing. He joined TI in 1999 through the acquisition of Butterfly, a wireless startup company in Israel.
