STMicroelectronics NV, the Franco-Italian semiconductor manufacturer has reported net profits for the year up 1.1% to $411.1m on revenues up 5.6% at $4.25bn. ST has benefited from a modest presence in the commodity end of the market. What the company calls ‘differentiated’ products accounted for 63.5% of revenues in the fourth quarter compared with 55.7% a year earlier. Programmable products have been ST’s star performer with sales up 16.7% over a year earlier while dedicated products showed a 7.4% rise and even memory products edged forward 3.6%. In the Discrete and Standard Products Group sales however fell by 13.4%. ST has a good geographic spread with Europe accounting for 39.7% of revenues, the US 21.7% and Asia/Pacific 31.2%. ST is spending heavily to keep its place in the market with R&D costs at $610.9m accounting for 16.3% of net revenues, compared with 15.2% a year earlier. With a $1bn cash pile, ST is not short of resources to buy in technology. It has just completed the acquisition of the Peripherals Solutions Division of Adaptec and is in the process of acquiring Vision Plc, the UK-based camera-on-a-chip company.
