锁定中国EV市场，大唐恩智浦押对宝了吗？

不久前，恩智浦半导体(NXP Semiconductors)与中国业者大唐电信(Datang Telecom)共同宣布，将合资成立一家命名为“大唐恩智浦半导体(Datang NXP Semiconductors)”的无晶圆厂芯片设计公司，号称是“中国第一家真正的汽车半导体公司”(参考连结)。 这家新创合资公司预期员工规模将仅30人左右，总部设置于邻近中国上海的南通；公司股份由大唐与恩智浦各拥有51%与49%。根据恩智浦半导体全球汽车市场业务暨营销资深副总裁Drue Freeman说法，大唐恩智浦将针对中国内需市场与混合动力/电动车(EV)开发专用芯片。 有鉴于中国对新能源技术的强力支持，以及中国拥有全球规模最大、成长最快的汽车市场，该新合资公司锁定车用IC的策略动机很单纯。但大唐恩智浦值得注意的一点，是以混合动力车辆与电动车为目标，开发“电池管理与能源转换”相关的特殊应用IC。 Freeman指出，该类芯片的开发将利用恩智浦的高性能、混合讯号技术；根据双方协议，恩智浦将把相关的特定电源管理、电池管理技术知识产权(IP)转移授权给新合资公司。 为何是混合动力车辆/电动车市场？ 在此需要特别提出的是，恩智浦虽然在中国汽车半导体市场拥有领导地位，在开发「绿能」车辆芯片方面的经验却不太有名；该公司的车用技术偏向于“连网”应用，包括车内网络、车内信息娱乐、电子防盗系统(immobilizer)等等。 所 以，为何这家中国新创公司要以尚未全面起飞的混合动力/电动车为目标应用？对此恩智浦的Freeman表示，首先，混合动力/电动车：“将是中国车用半导 体市场大幅超越西方、日本市场的一个应用领域。”他指出，既然中国在传统车辆应用的汽车电子技术方面落后，为何还要尝试用西方的东西来击败西方？ 其次，由于非常糟糕的空气质量，中国目前亟需推广电动车；Freeman指出，由于中国政府投下数十亿美元发展电动车市场，中国本土芯片供货商应该要抓紧时机，藉由在电动车市场在汽车领域扩张势力，而非抵抗它。 藉由在新合资公司中占有股份，恩智浦将有机会取得中国政府的研发补助，这对该公司来说并不坏。而新合资公司除了可利用恩智浦的品牌知名度──据说在中国市场非常具份量──恩智浦也将拥有将该合资公司产品销售至中国以外市场的权利。 同 时，恩智浦相信新成立的中国合资公司在开发需要与竞争对手差异化的车用芯片十，将会发现恩智浦以绝缘上覆硅(SOI)为基础的先进双极CMOS DMOS (A-BCD)技术之吸引力所在。Freeman表示，藉由与恩智浦合作，新合资公司将可使用恩智浦独家制程技术，包括高频RF CMOS与SOI。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：政府的积极补助策略终将激励中国电动车市场

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• 恩智浦与大唐成立合资公司，押注中国本土车企
• 华为进驻车联网，巨头能否撬动产业变局？pycesmc

{pagination} 但中国的电动车市场规模究竟有多大？在西方业者仍为提升电动车销售量伤脑筋的此时，为何要在一个仍在萌芽阶段、前途茫茫的市场冒这么大风险？ 根 据恩智浦提供的数据，在2012年中国市场的混合动力/电动车销售量为1万2,791台，仅占当地汽车年度总销售量的0.7%。同样在2012年，在中国 的25座城市有近2万8,000辆采用新兴能源的车辆上路，其中有八成是大客车，大部分的轿车实际上是由地方与中央政府相关部门所采购。 汽车业者在向一般中国消费者推广电动车方面可能会遇到的严峻挑战，是难以忽视的；对此恩智浦的一位发言人表示：“因此中国针对采购电动车的私人买家提供了优渥的补助金。” 根据中国工信部稍早所公告的新讯息，中国政府现在将节能与采用新兴能源的车辆依据效率分为16个等级来发放补助津贴，金额预期由3,000元人民币(491美元)起跳。恩智浦与大唐的新合资公司，正是看好政府的积极补助策略终将激励中国电动车市场。 谁将担任新公司首席执行官？ 身为一家国营企业的大唐，将为新合资公司提供在芯片设计方面的专长、对中国政府机构决策者的熟悉度与了解，以及中国当地市场的客户与合作伙伴。在此同时，恩智浦则将为合资公司带来的贡献，除了数十年的汽车市场经验，还有一位首席执行官。 未 来将担任大唐恩智浦半导体首席执行官的人选，将会是曾担任前飞利浦(Philips)/恩智浦半导体高层、在几个月前才又回锅恩智浦的Paul Zhang ；Zhang是中国籍，毕业于北京清大并曾留学海外，拥有加拿大卡加利大学(University of Calgary)硕士学位，专长光纤网络，并拥有美国福坦莫大学(Fordham University)的eMBA文凭。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：NXP’s JV Bets on China’s Tenuous EV Market，by Junko Yoshida

相关阅读：
• 恩智浦大唐电信二次携手剑指中国新能源车市场
• 恩智浦与大唐成立合资公司，押注中国本土车企
• 华为进驻车联网，巨头能否撬动产业变局？pycesmc

{pagination} NXP’s JV Bets on China’s Tenuous EV Market Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent MADISON, Wis. — I suspect that I'm not alone in wondering when the fabless chip companies that have begun popping up in droves all over China in the last few years were going to awaken to markets other than the obviously overcrowded mobile space. Well, lo and behold. Earlier this month, NXP Semiconductors N.V. announced the formation of a joint venture called Datang NXP Semiconductors Co. Ltd., with China's state-owned Datang Telecom Technology Co. NXP calls the joint venture "China's first true, dedicated automotive chip company." The JV will be a small, fabless startup, consisting of about 30 employees, headquartered in Nantong, close to Shanghai. Datang NXP Semiconductors -- 51 percent owned by Datang and 49 percent by NXP -- will develop automotive chips for China's domestic and hybrid and electric car market, according to Drue Freeman, senior vice president for global automotive sales and marketing at NXP Semiconductors. Given China's strong government support for new energy technologies, and the fact that China has the biggest, fastest growing automotive market in the world, the joint venture's plan to go after automotive is a no-brainer. What makes the new JV notable is that it is founded to go after the hybrid and EV market. It will develop and sell advanced, application-specific, automotive ICs -- specifically in the area of "battery management and energy conversion" for EVs and hybrids, explained Freeman. It will do so by leveraging NXP's high-performance, mixed-signal technology. Under the agreement, NXP will transfer and license to the new JV certain IP rights in power management, including battery management, Freeman added. Hybrids and EVs It's important to point out, though, that NXP, despite its leading market share in China's automotive market, is not exactly known for its experience in developing chips for "green" vehicles. NXP's automotive focus has always been on the "connected car" area, including chips for in-vehicle networking, in-vehicle entertainment, immobilizers, and more. So, why is the new JV in China set up to go after the yet-to-blossom hybrid and EV market? First, hybrids and EVs will be "an area where China can leapfrog automotive semiconductor suppliers from the West and Japan," said Freeman. Since China lags behind automotive electronics technologies designed for conventional vehicles, why try to beat the West on Western terms, asked Freeman. Second, China badly needs to adopt EVs, sooner than later, due to its terribly polluted air quality. With the Chinese government spending billions of dollars to develop the EV market, Chinese domestic chip suppliers should seize the moment and get stronger in automotive by enabling the EV market, rather than fighting it, noted Freeman. NXP, by becoming a minority shareholder of the China-based JV, will have access to Chinese government R&D subsidies. Not a bad move on NXP's part. While the JV will be able to leverage NXP's brand name, which is said to be fairly prominent in the Chinese automotive market, the Dutch chip company will have the right to sell JV-developed products, on behalf of the JV, to markets outside China. Meanwhile, NXP believes the Chinese JV will find NXP's Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI)-based advanced bipolar CMOS DMOS (A-BCD) technologies attractive, as it develops its own automotive chips that need to be differentiated from others. By partnering with NXP, Freeman said, the JV will have access to process technologies unique to NXP, including high-frequency RF CMOS and SOI. Subsidies for e-vehicles But really, how big is China's EV market? With automakers in the West still struggling to sell EVs, why risk so much on a budding market that might not blossom? In 2012, China saw 12,791 electric and hybrid vehicles sold, contributing to only 0.7 percent of the nation's total car sales, according to NXP. As of 2012, there were nearly 28,000 new energy vehicles in 25 Chinese cities, and 80 percent were buses. A majority of passenger cars sold in 2012, in fact, were procured by local and central governments. It's hard to ignore the severe challenges the auto industry faces in promoting electric vehicles to the average Chinese consumer. "Therefore, the government extended its lavish subsidies for private buyers who purchase electric cars," said an NXP spokeswoman. According to updated subsidies announced earlier this year by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, instead of offering subsidies to producers based on auto technologies, the government now provides 16 levels of subsidies for energy-efficient and new-energy vehicles based on efficiency. The minimum subsidy is expected to be more than RMB3,000 (US$491). The new JV is banking on a future in which aggressive government subsidies will eventually trigger the demand for EVs in China. CEO for the new startup Datang, as a state-owned company, is bringing to the JV its IC design expertise along with inside knowledge and familiarity with China's political decision makers, as well as emerging local customers and partners. Meanwhile, NXP is bringing to the JV the company's decades of experience on the automotive market -- and a new CEO. The man heading up Datang NXP Semiconductors is Paul Zhang, ex-Philips/NXP Semiconductors executive, who joined NXP again several months ago prior to becoming the new JV's CEO. Zhang, native to China, is a graduate of Tsinghua Univ. He also spent substantial time studying in the West, including a Master's degree in fiber networks from the University of Calgary and an executive MBA from Fordham University. Before returning to NXP, Zhang served as senior director at Dolby Laboratories, working in San Francisco and in Greater China, responsible for sales. Zhang wrote in his LinkedIn page that the new JV is "aggressively hiring people from entry level to executive level in areas such as supply chain management operations, quality management, R&D (architect, analog, digital, layout, testing, verification, qualification and others), sales & marketing (product marketing, AE, SE and others)."