瑞芯微要在平板电脑战火中抓稳客户

中国瑞芯微(Rockchip)即将推出采用Globalfoundries 28nm制程的应用处理器，该公司的下一个任务，就是在激烈的平板电脑战火中抓住客户。 不过九个月以前，为平板电脑提供应用处理器的福州瑞芯微电子看起来还几乎是不可挑战的。该公司在美国消费电子展(CES)上以中国下一个摇滚巨星之姿现身。“我们没有极限，”瑞芯微在一份新闻稿中如是说。 然而，自那时起到现在， Android平板市场的竞争急剧拉高。瑞芯微副总裁陈锋(Feng Chen)表示，以市场量计算， Android平板电脑已成长至8,000万部之，超过苹果(Apple) iPad迄今为止的7,500万部销售量。当所有应用处理器供货商共同竞逐 Android 平板后，激烈的竞争便随之展开。 瑞芯微面临着激烈的竞争，包括三星电子(Samsung Electronics)等跨国公司和台湾的联发科(MediaTek)。同时，中国芯片领域也充满着后起之秀，不断以低价、功能整合等优势加入角逐。 2012 年初，采用Cortex-A8的7英寸电容式触控屏幕平板电脑售价是99美元。今天，这个价格已下降至65美元左右，这主要是由于一家中国无晶圆厂半导体公司──全志科技(Allwinner)，他们以turnkey system打乱了平板电脑市场。一位深圳的产业观察家指出，“对整个产业来说，这无疑是一个坏消息。” 瑞芯微面临的情况，生动地说明了中国无晶圆厂今天面临的挑战。

瑞芯微副总裁陈锋

在《EE Times》最近一次采访中，瑞芯微的陈锋说，“我们正在打一场全新的全球性战争。”陈锋指出，“仗很难打。但至少未来我能有故事说给我的孙子听。” 事实上，几乎每一家应用处理器供货商都无法精雕细琢后再推出产品，因为“上市周期愈来愈短，”他说。“更糟的是，在这样的市场周期下，要能如期推出产品也变得更加困难了。” 瑞芯微已经在取得授权或购买IP核心方面做了投资。为了平摊这些投资，该公司已开发多达六款使用这些IP核心的芯片。“过去，我们的做法可能是只为一线厂商开发一款芯片，”陈锋说。 “但 现在，随着终端产品生命周期不断缩短，我们从芯片设计到开发板和软件、周边硬件等开发工作，甚至要在两个月内完成。例如，今年三月份，瑞芯微开始设计内含 双核心Cortex A9和四核心Mali-400 GPU的 RK3066 芯片。四月该公司便在香港电子展上展示样品。五月份便向客户推出新的应用处理器。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：下注在Globalfoundries

相关阅读：
• 智能手机芯片战升级，得中国市场得天下
• 2012年，中国白牌平板电脑出货量将远低于预期
• RK3066平板6月量产，“2+4”架构性能拔群VX5esmc

{pagination} 下注在Globalfoundries 在这样激烈的应用处理器竞争环境下，瑞芯微的问题，是如何才能脱颖而出？ 陈锋表示，和高通(Qualcomm)和三星等大型应用处理器供货商相比，该公司的产品推出时程可能会晚个一年左右。瑞芯微的新策略是“压缩”产品周期来填补技术空白。因此，该公司现在将赌注押在 Globalfoundries 28nm high-k 金属闸极SoC平台上，即将推出的RK31xx芯片将采用此一新制程。 RF31xx 是专为平板电脑和智能手机设计的双核心Cortex A9产品。 Globalfoundries的28nm high-k制程“能让我们降低成本、提高性能，但最重要的是，我们将降低平板电脑的功耗，”陈锋说。“这给了我们更好的机会和联发科竞争”，后者采用台积电(TSMC)较为保守的制程。 当我们在九月初和陈锋见面时，他才刚从伦敦回来，他也去了Globalfoundries在德国德累斯顿(Dresden) 的28nm晶圆制造厂。陈锋表示，他等不及新的芯片运送到中国了。“我们将再度缩短到产品上市周期。”。 比 较瑞芯微的RK31xx和联发科在六月下旬推出的智能手机平台MT6577：联发科的应用处理器采用了类似的双核心Cortex-A9，但GPU部份采用 了Imagination Technologies的PowerVR Series5 SGX。 MT6577采用TSMC的40nm制程，最近三个月正积极进入客户设计阶段。 陈认为，瑞芯微可藉由Globalfoundries的28nm HKMG制程帮助说服客户留在该公司，而非切换到联发科。

全球平板电脑出货量及渗透率预测
Source：Display Search VX5esmc

全球平板电脑争夺战持续升温。预计2016年平板销售额将超过笔电。 (单位：百万 / 2012年)
VX5esmc

本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：瑞芯微的背景

相关阅读：
• 智能手机芯片战升级，得中国市场得天下
• 2012年，中国白牌平板电脑出货量将远低于预期
• RK3066平板6月量产，“2+4”架构性能拔群VX5esmc

{pagination} 瑞芯微的背景 瑞芯微并不是一家专门追逐流行的新创公司。瑞芯微成立于2001年，这家私人公司从基于可编程MCU的数字IC起家，主打语言教育市场用的数字磁带播放器。瑞芯微的专利软件可让磁带播放器以不同速度重复播放声音而不改变音调。目前瑞芯微在数字音频磁带播放机教育市场仍占有70%市场。 在成立瑞芯微以前，这家公司的两位创办人既不是芯片设计人员，也没有所谓的“海归”背景。该公司的首款数字IC三星设计、中芯国际 (SMIC)制造。当时，瑞芯微是颇为知名的MP3播放器芯片供货商，该公司在很大程度上仰赖新思科技(Synopsys)的前端芯片设计和中芯国际的术 端制造。 瑞芯微认为，当前的平板电脑市场是可携式媒体播放器热潮的延伸。尽管受到愈来愈多像Allwinner等新进者的竞争，但爱可视(Archos)的触控式平板网络媒体播放器采用的就是瑞芯微的CPU；瑞芯微也为泰国的“一个儿童一部平板”计划供货。其它中国制造商也采用瑞芯微产品设计平板。 瑞芯微现拥有近500名员工，其中一半是软件工程师。该公司正正专注于使用自有IP设计芯片，并参与后段作业。 在北京清华大学毕业后，陈锋继续到美国宾州里海大学(Lehigh University)就读。陈锋曾在朗讯工作超过6年，在2008年4月加入瑞芯微之前也曾在中芯国际工作五年。他称自己是瑞芯微“唯一”一个海归派。 和其它新创公司不同，瑞芯微从一开始就获利。但随着平板电脑竞争不断升温，该公司也必须向前迈进。“我们正在打一场全球性的战争。我们需要最顶尖的人才。” 该公司还需要获得更多资金，以便为未来的合并或收购做打算。采取自然成长路线显然很难达到新的水平。陈锋表示，他希望能让中国的芯片设计产业更加团结，但“没有中国公司想要放弃。” 最后，陈锋表示，“我们在市场必须有明确定位”，所以，瑞芯微可以选择自己的战场。

中国制造的平板电脑究竟有多少呢，而中国市场又有多大呢？ 有80%的平板电脑在中国制造及出口。　(单位：百万部 )
Source：中国业界人士预估VX5esmc

本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Joy Teng 参考英文原文：China Fabless: Rockchip rattled by Android tablet wars，by Junko Yoshida

相关阅读：
• 智能手机芯片战升级，得中国市场得天下
• 2012年，中国白牌平板电脑出货量将远低于预期
• RK3066平板6月量产，“2+4”架构性能拔群VX5esmc

{pagination} China Fabless: Rockchip rattled by Android tablet wars Junko Yoshida China's Rockchip is betting the house on Globalfoundries' 28-nm process technology for its upcoming apps processor. It's next task will be hanging on to its customers as the tablet wars heat up. SHANGHAI – China fabless chip company Rockchip is caught between a rock and a hard place. Just nine months ago, Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics, a developer of apps processor for tablets, looked almost invincible. The company introduced itself at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as China’s next rock star. “The sky is the limit,” Rockchip’s proclaimed in a press release. [Get ready for the China Fabless Summit 2013, our Spring forum where Chinese startups will showcase their plans for the future of the electronics industry.] While the sky hasn't exactly fallen on Rockchip since then, the Android-based media tablet market has gotten far more competitive. By volume, the Android tablet sector has grown to an estimated 80 million units, outpacing the 75 million iPads sold by Apple thus far, according to estimates by Rockchip vice president Feng Chen. But an equal explosion has occurred among suppliers of apps processors for Android-based tablets, with everyone chasing the same market. Allwinner changes the landscape Rockchip faces stiff competition from multinational chip companies like Samsung Electronics and Taiwanese behemoth MediaTek. Meanwhile, a host of Chinese chip suppliers are coming after Rockchip, undercutting it on price, features and integration plans. At the beginning of 2012, the target price of a 7-inch capacitive screen media tablet featuring Cortex-A8 was $99. That price has since dropped to around $65, due largely to Allwinner, a red-hot Chinese fabless company that has flooded the tablet market with its own turnkey system. Speaking of the trend, one industry observer in Shenzhen noted, “It’s a bad news for the whole industry.” Rockchip's situation vividly illustrates the challenges most Chinese fabless chip companies now face. During a recent interview with EE Times here, Rockchip’s Chen (right) said, “This is a new world war we’re fighting.” Gazing at the breakfast table, Chen added, “It’s tough. But at least I’ll have a story to tell my grandchild someday.” Indeed, nearly every apps processor vendor here is in a rough spot because “the time-to-market requirement has gotten much shorter," he noted. "Worse, catching the market rhythm or cycle -- at the right time – has become much harder.” Rockchip has invested in licensing or purchasing IP cores. In an effort to amortize its investment, the company has been developing as many as six chips a year using those IP cores. “Previously, we may have developed one chip for Tier-One customer,” said Chen. “But now, as end-product cycles get shorter, we do everything from designing a chip to developing a board and software that goes around the hardware -- literally within a couple of months,” he explained. In March, for example, Rockchip started to design its RK3066, a dual-core Cortex A9 chip with a quad-core Mali-400 GPU. By April, it hustled to showcase sample tablets based on the chip at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. By May, the company began shipping the new apps processor to its customers. Betting on Globalfoundries As the apps processor competition intensifies, the question is how Rockchip can differentiate itself? Chen said the company may at times have been “a year behind in our prodcut offerings, when compared to apps processors from big guys" like Qualcomm and Samsung. Rockchip’s new strategy is focused on “contracting” the product cycle to fill technology gaps. Hence, it is betting on Globalfoundries’ industry-leading 28-nm SoC platform based on high-k metal gate technology for its upcoming RK31xx chip. Wafer pick up The RK31xx is a dual core Cortex A9 product designed for tablets and smartphones. Using Globalfoundries' high-k 28-nm process, “we can reduce cost, gain performance, but most importantly, we will reduce power consumption for tablets,” said Chen. “This gives us a better chance for competing against MediaTek,” which uses TSMC's more conservative process node. When we met Chen in early September, he had just returned from London, where he picked up 28-nm wafers fabricated at Globalfoundries in Dresden, Germany, and hand-delivered hurriedly to Chen at Heathrow airport. Chen said couldn’t afford to wait for the wafers to be shipped to China. “We’re driven to ‘narrow’ the time-to-market cycle,” Chen explained. Compare Rockchip’s RK31xx to MediaTek’s MT6577, a smartphone platform launched in late June: MediaTek’s apps processor uses a similar dual-core Cortex-A9, but features a PowerVR Series5 SGX GPU from Imagination Technologies. The MT6577, fabricated by using TSMC's 40-nm process technology, has been in the active design-in phase with lead customers for almost three months. Chen is betting that Rockchip can leverage Globalfoundries' 28-nm HKMG process to help persuade customers to stay with the company and not switch to MediaTek. Global tablet shipment, penetration forecast The global battle over media tablets continues to heat up. Tablets sales are expected to surpass notebook PCs at 2016. Units: Millions Source: Display Search, 2012 Rockchip’s genesis Rockchip is not a new company specifically created to chase the popular market. Founded in 2001, the privately-held company started as a developer of digital ICs based on a programmable MCU for digital cassette players used in language training. Rockchip patented software that allows a cassette player to play back voice and repeat it at different speeds without changing tone. Rockchip still holds a 70 percent share of that digital audio cassette player educational market. Prior to establishing Rockchip, its two founders were neither chip designers nor so-called “sea turtles” returning from the U.S. The company's first digital ICs were designed by Samsung and manufactured by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) here. By the time Rockchip became known as a MP3 player chip supplier, the company relied heavily on Synopsys for front-end chip design and worked with SMIC on the back-end. Design wins Rockchip, which views the current media tablet market as an extension of the portable media player boom, has logged a host of notable design wins. The Archos touch tablet Internet media player was driven by Rockchip’s CPU. Rockchip also scored a win with Thailand’s “One Tablet Per Child” initiative. Other Chinese manufacturers are also building tablets based on Rockchip designs, although they’re increasingly under attack from newcomers like Allwinner. Rockchip now employs close to 500 people. Half its employees are software engineers. It is now focused on using its own IP in designing chips and is more heavily involved in back-end works, according to Chen. After earning his BS at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Chen studied at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Chen’s worked more than six years at Lucent Technologies, then five years at SMIC before joining Rockchip in April 2008. He calls himself Rockchip's “only ‘overseas’ guy.” Unlike other startups here, Rockchip has been profitable from the start. But as the tablet battle heats up, it also needs to find a way to move to the next level. “We are fighting a world war. We need the world’s top talent.” The company also needs access to capital. Without it, Rockchip can’t even think about mergers or acquisitions. Organic growth alone won’t get it to the next level, Chen acknowledge, saying he expects consolidation in the Chinese fabless sector but “no Chinese companies want to give up.” Lastly, Chen said, “We need to be clear on the market” so that Rockchip can choose its battles. How many tablets does China make, how big is the Chinese market? 80 percent of media tablets made in China are exported Unit: Million of units Source: Chinese industry estimates