Wireless chip company Skyworks Solutions Inc., based in Woburn, Mass., doesn’t always get the local attention its size here warrants.
Skyworks is one of Orange County’s largest technology companies by employees, and happens to be on a nice run of late. Skyworks was created when Newport Beach-based chipmaker Conexant Systems Inc. split off its wireless chip business and combined it with Woburn, Mass.-based Alpha Industries Inc. a few years ago.
Skyworks, which employs about 480 at its Irvine design center, has seen it stock rise recently as investors bet the company may be emerging from some down times.
In the past three months, the stock has climbed more than 30%, with much of the gains in the past month. Skyworks has a market value of about $1.2 billion.
A big driver: Daniel Amir, an analyst with W.R. Hambrecht & Co. in San Francisco, upgraded the stock from “hold” to “buy” in late March.
He said the company is poised to make some market share gains in the next 12 months with its key radio frequency products for the next generation of cell phone technology.
Last year, Skyworks was losing share to companies such as Greensboro, N.C.-based RF Micro Devices Inc. and Hillsboro, Ore.-based Triquent Semiconductor Inc. for big-time handset customers such as Korea’s Samsung Corp. and London-based Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Amir said.
In October, the company warned that it would miss some sales estimates for the quarter ended Sept. 30 by about 5% at $190 million.
But now the company is beginning to take market share in its battles for customers such as Samsung and Motorola Inc. in Schaumburg, Ill., Amir said.
That bodes well in the handset industry. Motorola has one of the best-selling units in the Razr and Slivr iPod phone. Also, Sony Ericsson is getting some good traction with its Walkman lineup.
Meanwhile, San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. could be writing licensing fee checks to Skyworks by the end of this year as part of a patent settlement between the companies last June.
Skyworks announces its quarterly earnings today for the quarter ended March 31.
Analysts expect revenue to slide about 5% from the year-ago period and earnings to be halved.
Obviously, the company still needs to make more progress, which could come in the next few months.
Skyworks is the No. 5 chipmaker on the Business Journal’s annual OC ranking.
Pull Up a Chair
Gil Amelio is getting busier.
The chief executive of Newport Beach-based “blank-check” company Acquicor Technology Inc. has signed on as chairman of SmartLabs Inc. in Irvine.
SmartLabs makes electronic home improvement and automation products.
The privately held company changed its name from SmartHome earlier this year because it “reflects its role as a visionary think tank for the future of home networking.”
The company also has some new personnel. Late last year, the company said it added three executives: Mike Benvenuti as vice president of finance and operations; Dave Luke as national sales manager of retail and distribution; and Bill Hitchcock as business development manager.
Amelio is best known as the former chief of Apple Computer Inc. in Cupertino. He led the company in 1996 and 1997 until Steve Jobs stepped back into leadership there.
Amelio teamed up with Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak last year to form Acquicor. The company was set up for the sole purpose of finding a technology company to acquire.
Ellen Hancock, Apple’s technology chief under Amelio, also joined Acquicor.
Acquicor raised about $150 million in its recent public stock offering. There’s been no word on an acquisition for Acquicor yet.
Amelio also is a venture capital investor and sits on several company boards.
“The extremely dynamic home networking market is just beginning to address the needs of the mass consumer,” Amelio said. “SmartLabs is at the forefront of that effort, and all the critical success factors are in place, from thought leadership to sophisticated technology and product design to cutting-edge marketing and distribution. I look forward to helping the company realize its strategic vision.”
Japan Calling
Santa Ana-based SimpleTech Inc., a memory and storage products maker, recently opened its first office in Japan.
The company’s Yokohama City office will focus on landing design wins from Japanese memory makers, including flash.
Besides its OC headquarters, SimpleTech also has offices in Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
Au Revoir
A maker of portable TVs for a satellite provider has left Irvine.
Archos Inc., a French maker of portable media players, took its 22-person Irvine operation to Greenwood Village, Colo., according to the Rocky Mountain News.
The relocation puts Archos just a few miles away from investor and major customer EchoStar Communications Corp., operator of the Dish Network satellite-TV service, the article said.
That was a major reason for the move. Also: Three recently hired executives live in the Denver area.
