Vishay Intertechnology: Well positioned for a volatile market

Selb/Malvern, November 13, 2012 – As one of the largest manufacturers of passive components and discrete semiconductors, Vishay Intertechnology operates in a dynamic environment. Its position as a global broadliner with a presence in numerous markets gives the company the necessary stability to overcome challenges and capitalize ongoing opportunities in the electronics market. The company is underpinned by solid financials thanks to a conservative fiscal policy and strict cost management. Vishay offers its customers the benefit of an extraordinarily wide range of standard products as well as specialty components. Comprehensive assistance in solving technical problems rounds out its support service.
“Since the global crisis of 2008-09, economic fluctuations have become more frequent and stronger and continue to pose a challenge to the industry as a whole. Despite this, we remain confident that growth in the electronics market will continue. Every abrupt fall in demand appears to be followed by a steep increase,” says Dr. Gerald Paul, President and CEO, Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. “We are well positioned, offering sophisticated and innovative products with the ability to react quickly and flexibly.”

Dr. Gerald Paul cites the markets for mobility, sustainability and networking as offering major growth opportunities for Vishay. To outgrow the market, Vishay is expanding its technical resources, accelerating new product development, and expanding capacity for leading products. Measures aimed at securing greater market penetration include boosting expenditure on R&D, technical sales and product engineering. This is complemented by the targeted acquisition of niche companies.

Enhanced technical resources:
Accelerating the development of both products and technologies as well as ensuring their availability in key markets will ensure greater market penetration. Vishay has already increased its R&D product engineering resources by 15 percent since the end of 2009 and will continue to follow this strategy even in bad times – with overall fixed costs remaining unchanged. An expanded technical sales team will promote design-in projects with customers. By deploying additional technical staff in the product engineering area, Vishay is supporting new developments for key markets. The product focus for the next years is on selected series of MOSFETs, diodes, SMD couplers, inductors, resistors and capacitors (see the list below).

Proven acquisition strategy:
Vishay continues to expand its product lines through strategic acquisitions based on its ‘one-stop shop’ philosophy. The focus of this strategy is on niche businesses offering quality products and strong growth that will enhance the product ranges of Vishay divisions. Here too, Vishay sets ambitious targets: acquisitions must be accretive to earnings within 12 months and payback of acquisition plus restructuring in eight years or less.

Focus markets:
Mobility includes electronics and drives for light vehicles, buses, and trains. Due to increased fuel costs and more severe environmental requirements, the vehicle industry has to implement alternative energy and more efficient drivetrain concepts. Utilization of electrical motors in combination with combustion engines in many kinds of hybrid systems is state of the art technology. Fully electric cars for short-distance commuting will have their limited market due to high battery costs. To improve efficiency further, the challenges will be with dual-voltage boardnets to enable electric power steering, energy recuperation, engine cooling, and further reduction of vehicle weight. Here Vishay is introducing many new enhanced, robust, and high-efficiency components. The customer can benefit from Vishay’s many years of experience in the design and manufacturing of electronic components for this core market.

Sustainability encompasses electronic components for alternative energy generation and distribution. These include components for inverters, power conditioning devices, and energy storage systems for windmills, photovoltaic systems, and energy harvesting and recuperation. Sustainability also encompasses alternatives for power transmission such as HVDC lines, power distribution, and saving such as smart grids and meters. It also includes the development of higher-efficiency power supplies and the reduction of stand-by power consumption. Last but not least, energy backup systems for peak and fault power conditions are more and more important for modern energy management and generation. Customers can benefit from Vishay’s experience in high-voltage and safety-approved components.

Connectivity an important feature in modern and fast developing societies, includes lightweight, ultra-compact, and always connected devices such as tablet computers, smartphones and ultrabooks that are always capable of operation via users’ fingertips, proximity, and gestures with extremely long lifetime (battery life). To interconnect these devices’ high-speed wired and wireless networks such as LTE for communication, tremendous amounts of storage space in the “cloud” and server power to operate the devices have to be installed. This requires that all system developers and component suppliers keep the energy consumption and efficiency of such systems well under control. New systems for quick, efficient, and universal charging – such as wireless and USB charging - are required to avoid the excessive use of various mobile chargers. Also, next-generation wireless payment systems such as NFC can be adapted to the “connectivity of things”. Vishay develops and serves ultra-compact, low-profile, and high-Q components for these markets.

Key products and new product developments:
Discrete semiconductors:
In MOSFETs, Vishay is launching next-generation TrenchFET® Gen IV MOSFETs that further lower on-resistance (1.35 milliohms) and capacitive charges, which makes them suitable for high-efficiency and compact communication devices and servers. For telecommunications and large energy-hungry systems Vishay is launching next-generation ThunderFET® MOSFETs between 40 and 150 V with very low FOM (figure of merit) and very low on-resistance. Derived from these technologies are also AEC-Q101 qualified 40 V devices for automotive applications with very high current handling capabilities (up to 200 A). Coupled with the introduction of new breakthrough p-channel devices with extremely low on-resistance (half of the previous industry standard), Vishay also is introducing many integrated 600 V/650 V high-performance Super Junction MOSFETs complete Vishay’s selection of new MOSFETs with very high efficiency, increased power density, and reduced conduction losses.
To address the increased demands of high power density semiconductor devices, Vishay is developing various semiconductor modules containing MOSFETs, IGBTs, diodes, and rectifiers. Vishay is also enhancing its diodes and rectifiers portfolio with low-profile, high-power packages such as the SlimSMA® package utilizing a compact 600 W high-power TransZorb® TVS device and is introducing a complete range of new miniaturized eSMP® packages with advanced rectifier technologies such as TMBS® Trench MOS Barrier Schottky devices and FRED® fast and ultra-fast recovery epitaxial diodes.

With its leading infrared optoelectronics technology, Vishay is introducing high-power surface emitters and a range of intelligent circuits using infrared sensors for optical encoders and proximity sensors for ambient light. To address the increased demands of high-voltage insulation and safety, Vishay is also releasing an isolated photovoltaic MOSFET driver with integrated turn-off capabilities.

Passive components:
Vishay is enhancing its patented IHLP® power inductor technology by launching an industry- first coupled inductor in this technology and expanding its ranges in low-profile packages (1616) and large packages (up to 8787) for high-current applications. Many of the IHLP® inductors, especially for automotive applications, are capable of operating in up to 150°C ambient temperatures. Vishay is also expanding its product offering of planar and custom transformers to address increased requirements of high-power inverters as well as custom magnetics for medical applications.
In the resistors arena, Vishay is expanding its market leadership with new technologies and special products. Vishay is extending its product offering of high-current shunt resistors for metering and battery management applications by integrating A/D conversion and connectors. To address the increased performance requirements of high-temperature operation, high accuracy, and low-temperature dependency, Vishay is continuing to expand its product offering with high-power thick film resistors, and ultra-stable and automotive-grade thin film resistors.
To address the increased demands of energy storage, filter and backup devices, several industry-first capacitors are being launched. These include heavy-duty film capacitors for power quality enhancement and distribution as well as low-profile (slim) DC-link capacitors for compact high-power and high-frequency inverter and converter technologies.
Vishay’s miniaturized MICROTAN® leadframeless molded tantalum capacitor portfolio is being expanded to include versions for automotive applications, to operate under higher temperature and voltage requirements, and medical applications, to utilize very high CV and small size. Vishay recently launched a high-energy wet tantalum capacitor for medical implantable applications, thereby extending this highly reliable, mature technology to new performance levels.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., a Fortune 1,000 Company listed on the NYSE (VSH), is one of the world's largest manufacturers of discrete semiconductors (diodes, MOSFETs, and infrared optoelectronics) and passive electronic components (resistors, inductors, and capacitors). These components are used in virtually all types of electronic devices and equipment, in the industrial, computing, automotive, consumer, telecommunications, military, aerospace, power supplies, and medical markets. Vishay's product innovations, successful acquisition strategy, and "one-stop shop" service have made it a global industry leader. Vishay can be found on the Internet at www.vishay.com.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., 63 Lincoln Highway, Malvern, PA 19355 -2143, U.S.A.; Peter Henrici, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, ph.: +1 (610) 407 4899; peter.henrici@vishay.com

Agentur Lorenzoni GmbH, Public Relations, Landshuter Str. 29, 85435 Erding, Germany; ph: 08122/55917-0, fax: -29, www.lorenzoni.de, Beate Lorenzoni, beate@lorenzoni.de

This release was published on openPR.