Design & Reuse

Renesas-Dialog deal: MCUs evolving into powerful SoCs

Another analog and power chipmaker folds into the larger world of a digital semiconductor outfit aiming to bolster its mixed-signal prowess.

www.ednasia.com, Aug. 20, 2021 – 

Renesas is about to complete the acquisition of Dialog Semiconductor. Another analog and power chipmaker folds into the larger world of a digital semiconductor outfit aiming to bolster its mixed-signal engineering prowess.

The deal is yet another reminder of how the system-on-chip (SoC) designs are reshaping the semiconductor industry in general and the analog chip sector in specific. Renesas, a leading MCU supplier, saw writing on the wall and began amassing analog design assets in the mid-2000s. It first acquired data center and automotive power specialist Intersil in 2017 and then snapped RF and mixed-signal expert Integrated Device Technology (IDT) a couple of years later.

Now, back to the Dialog deal, where the value proposition of buying the Anglo-German chipmaker and Apple supplier seems two-fold. First, when you look at the Internet of Things (IoT) designs, the secret sauce comprises mainly low-cost MCUs and low-power connectivity solutions. Here, Renesas MCUs meshed with pawer-savvy Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity can lead to powerful SoC offerings for IoT designs.

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