消費性IC設計公司的成長策略──以凌陽科技為例

Abstract

近年來半導體產業處於快速進步的十倍速時代，尤其是自從晶圓專業代工 (Wafer Foundry) 的營運模式普及之後，大幅度降低了IC業者的進入障礙，使得IC設計公司面對激烈的國際競爭，稍一不慎即被競爭者所淘汰。本論文以消費性 IC 設計公司凌陽科技為例，探討凌陽自1990年創立至2000年的期間，管理者如何成功的維持長期且穩定的成長與獲利，並分別從競爭策略、交易成本、虛擬整合、架構性創新等角度分析凌陽的策略與創新做法。 草創期間，資金和人力都有限。集中全部的資源於產品開發，其餘外包。利用創新的 Multi-chip產品開發方式，大幅降低產品開發費用。鎖定進入障礙較低的語音合成IC，先求短期的營收與獲利，而且以客戶訂製方式，降低營運資金需求。利用創新的 Wafer Bank模式，大幅縮短交貨期，增加彈性以有效因應消費性產業銷售預測不易準確的特質。 茁壯期間，產品與營收雖然有限，但是正在快速成長。拓展產品線及多元化的客戶是發展重點，但仍專注於消費性產品。建構可重複使用的核心技術資料庫，提昇產品開發效率。堅持與客戶分享利潤，創造雙贏，與客戶共同成長。與專業代理商虛擬整合，代為行銷不同應用產品。建立自有晶圓測試產能，以掌握交貨品質與節稅考量。 制度化與多角化時期：建構企業永續經營的基礎。建立團隊運作制度，導入EDA電子自動化設計，提高複雜產品開發成功率，產品邁向多媒體應用等中大型專案為中長期的成長鋪路。建立中大型企業的制度，股票上櫃掛牌。規劃長期投資，以取得與公司互補性的核心技術，為長期擴大營運規模鋪路。 國際化時期：為因應未來無國界與知識經濟時代，建立海外研發組織、在倫敦金融市場發行全球存託憑證(GDR) 及積極開發日本與歐洲市場為具體國際化策略。

The semiconductor industry has been in a 10X-era since the past few decades. The entry barrier for a start-up IC company has getting significantly lowered since the wafer foundry business model became popular. Hence the global competition of IC industry is so tough that any IC design company could be out of competency within year. As a consumer IC design company, Sunplus Technology has maintained a stable and high growth both in revenue and profitability in the period of 1990~2000. From different perspectives of the arts of high-tech management, competitive strategy, core competency, transaction cost, virtual integration and architectural innovation, this thesis attempts to explore the strategies and innovations that Sunplus has adopted. During the start-up stage, Sunplus focused its limited resources on consumer electronic product development and outsourced all the non-core activities. An innovative Multi-chip strategy that minimizes the product development expenses is deployed. Sunplus started with lower entry barrier products like voice synthesizer for obtaining short-term income and profit. In addition, custom-designed strategy was to minimize inventory and working capital requirements as well as to support various features. Wafer bank, the innovative wafer manufacturing strategy that successfully shortened the wafer delivery cycle time has been adopted to reduce the risk of sales forecast errors. At the growth stage, there were limited product applications but with high growth rate. Sunplus then expanded its product lines but still maintained its focus on consumer electronics. The re-usable IP architecture was built up to facilitate efficient product development. The products were priced to assure that Sunplus as well as its customers could both make profit for a win-win. Strategic distributors were allied as virtually integrated partners to promote its various products. In addition, there was in-house wafer testing facility for obtaining tax benefit and assuring delivery quality. At the systemization stage, Sunplus focused on team building process and EDA tools adoption to improve product development efficiency. It had its IPO in Taiwan OTC stock market in 1997. And diversification is primary long-term investment to acquire complementary IPs for future growth needs. Finally, at the Globalization stage, strategies are implemented such as building R&D team in China, issuing GDR in London and developing Japanese and European markets for better adoption of borderless era.