Harris Semiconductor Announces Formation of New Product Line
13 July 1998
Harris Semiconductor Announces the Formation of Industrial Power Product Line; New Business Unit to Develop Power System Architectures for the Industrial Market
MELBOURNE, Fla.--July 13, 1998--Harris Semiconductor announced today the formation of a new product line within its Power Business to address high-growth opportunities within the industrial power market. The Industrial Power product line, headed by newly-appointed Vice President Paul Leonard, will design power system architectures and provide a portfolio of products for the power supply, motor control and high-reliability segments of the industrial power market."This is a clear demonstration of our commitment to power and to the industrial market," said Greg Williams, Vice President and General Manager of Harris Semiconductor's Power Business. "Harris has a strong heritage in industrial power and Paul brings a wealth of talent and experience to his new position. We see a lot of opportunity in industrial and have invested in new products to serve its needs. While many semiconductor suppliers have abandoned this market, we've made the decision to serve industrial power for the long haul."
The new industrial business unit combines systems-level expertise with a vast portfolio of intelligent power, discrete power and suppression products in a voltage range of 100 to 1700 volts. Harris' industrial portfolio includes IGBTs, MOSFETs, bridge drivers, high-speed rectifiers, and suppression products for motor drive and motor control, power supply, automotive, instrumentation, robotic, welding, and other high-reliability industrial applications.
"In the past two years," adds Williams, "we've added capacity by bringing the world's first eight-inch power MOS fab on line, developed new processes and introduced several new families of products to address industrial applications. We see tremendous growth potential in industrial and plan to be there at the right time with the right products and architectures for our target applications."
The industrial power transistor market grew at a calculated annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% from 1992-1997 (Source: WSTS). That market is expected to continue to grow at 12% CAGR from $1.2 billion in 1997 to $1.7 billion in 2001.
Harris is the inventor of the IGBT and has a huge patent portfolio for the industrial market. The company is developing next generation IGBTs and recently introduced its new Quantum Speed(TM) IGBT family. Harris' portfolio also includes a broad array of N- and P-channel MOSFETs for industrial use and radiation hardened N- and P-MOSFETs for high-reliability applications. In addition, Harris offers complete families of high-speed recovery diodes, driver ICs and protection circuits.
Harris Corporation's Semiconductor sector manufactures discrete semiconductors and integrated circuits and focuses research and development efforts on innovative new products for the communications and power markets. Harris Corporation , with worldwide sales of more than $3.8 billion, is an international communications and electronics company that provides a wide range of products and services such as wireless and personal communications, digital television (HDTV), health care information, multi-media communications, automotive electronics, transportation, business information, defense communications and information, and Lanier office products.