The company is heavily dependent on a small number of customers, particularly in Asia. In 2004, 81% of revenue came from its ten largest customers and LG Electronics Inc alone accounted for 43% of turnover.
But the Sunnyvale, California-based company has made rapid progress since its formation in 1998. From revenue of $58,000 when it first started shifting silicon in 2000, it has grown rapidly and increased net income from $873,000 to $15.2m in the year to December 31, 2004 on revenue 94% higher at $51.3m.
Advanced Analogic is cashing in on the crucial importance of power management on portable devices with limited battery life. It quotes market researchers iSuppli as forecasting that the voltage regulator and reference power management semiconductor market will grow from $6.1bn in 2005 to $11.5bn in 2009.
Demand is driven by the increasing sophistication of devices. The company quotes the addition of a camera to a mobile consumer electronic device. This requires powering three additional power loads; a flash, a camera image sensor and an image processor.
Power management is a complex art. The company says it has to supply input voltages from as low as one volt to as high as 30 volts. Other applications may operate with input voltages as low as one volt.
Advanced Analogic has some new technology up its sleeve. It says it has invented and patented a new process which it calls ModularBCD, and which is capable of integrating CMOS and bipolar circuits with different voltages, electrically isolated from one another. First products incorporating the new technology are currently being designed.
The company lists its competitors as Maxim Integrated Products, Linear Technology, Texas Instruments, Semtech and National Semiconductor.
But with a customer base that includes LG, Motorola, Sagem, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Texas Instruments, Advanced Analogic is well placed for future growth.
