Simtek Corporation (OTC: SRAM)
4250 Buckingham Dr., Ste. 100
Colorado Springs, CO 80907 (Map)
Phone: 719-531-9444
Fax: 719-531-9481
Toll Free: 800-637-1667
http://www.simtek.com external site content
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Covered by Jeff Dorsch
Simtek's technology is far from simple. The fabless company's nvSRAM (nonvolatile static random-access memory) chips combine the high speeds of volatile SRAM with the reliability of nonvolatile memory, which retains data when power is turned off. Chartered Semiconductor manufactures the majority of the company's products, which are sold to copier, computer, telecom equipment, and industrial and military electronics manufacturers. Simtek also conducts contract research and development projects for the US government though its subsidiary, Q-DOT Group, Inc.
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Company Type Public (OTC: SRAM)
Simtek Reports 2004 Fourth Quarter and Year End Financial Results
via COMTEX
March 17, 2005
Company Reports 57% Sequential Increase in Fourth Quarter Revenue, Improved Bottom Line
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 17, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ --
Simtek Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SRAM), a global provider of advanced nonvolatile semiconductor memory products, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2004.
The Company reported fourth quarter revenue of $4,521,000, up 57% sequentially from $2,878,000 in the third quarter, and up 21% from $3,727,000 in the same quarter a year ago. This increase was attributable to growing demand for commercial nonvolatile semiconductor memory products and to initial sales of the Company's new 1 Mbit product family. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $291,000, or less than one cent per basic and diluted share, a sharp sequential improvement over the net loss of $1,412,000, or $0.02 per basic and diluted share, in the third quarter. Net loss in the fourth quarter of 2003 was $306,000, or $0.01 per basic and diluted share.
Revenue for the full year increased nearly 3% to $14,902,000 from $14,504,000 a year ago. The year-ago revenue figure included $956,000 in revenue from the logic product line that was discontinued at the end of 2003 and therefore did not contribute to revenue in 2004. Net loss in 2004 was $3,670,000, or $0.06 per basic and diluted share, as compared with $2,273,000, or $0.04 per basic and diluted share, in 2003.
Simtek's core memory product revenue increased 16% to $13,100,000 from $11,307,000 a year ago. R&D revenue generated by the Company's Q-DOT subsidiary decreased by $431,000 to $1,810,000 as man-hours were shifted to more internal development. The mix of semiconductor sales includes $10,300,000 to commercial customers, up 8% from a year ago due to an increase in unit demand for our nonvolatile memory products in mass storage and office automation systems, and $2,800,000 in high-end industrial and military sales, up 56% from $1,800,000 in 2003.
Simtek closed the year with $2.1 million in cash versus $1.7 million in the third quarter and $3.4 million a year ago.
"Our fourth quarter was our strongest revenue quarter of the year, reflecting increased demand for our commercial memory products and the growing contribution to revenue of our new one megabit products," said Doug Mitchell, president and CEO. "We continue to push hard on our quarter-micron nvSRAM and Value-Added-Memory strategies and are confident of extending our momentum into 2005 and reporting improved financial results for the full year, including a transition to profitability in the second half of the year."
Business Outlook
Simtek expects to achieve higher revenue and improved profitability in 2005. Semiconductor industry forecasts show a slow first half in 2005 with increasing demand ramping around mid-year. Overall, Simtek expects to see industry-wide growth in semiconductor demand for the full year.
Simtek's legacy product shipments should generally track growth in the overall market, reflecting its maturity in the market, while 0.25 micron products will be more dependent on new systems being introduced by equipment manufacturers trying to differentiate themselves with leading-edge features.
During 2004 Simtek transferred its 0.8 micron family from Chartered's FAB1 to FAB2, which is now resulting in improved production yields and will ultimately support lower production costs. These effects will be fully valued during the second quarter of 2005. Market forecasts currently indicate that these products will have extended lives out at least two to three more years.
Simtek achieved significant market acceptance of its 0.25 micron product family through evaluations and design wins that are scheduled to increase production in 2005, although market conditions and internal development activities slowed the growth of these product sales in 2004. The 1 Mbit nvSRAM and Real Time Clock remain the only products of their type available in the market and are finding many applications demanding their capabilities. Well over 100 companies are implementing these products for production, while new design interest continues at a robust pace. Interest is especially high in the 1 Mbit and 256 Kbit products with the integrated Real-Time-Clock, which is capable of supporting back-up operation with energy supplied from a capacitor instead of a traditional battery, allowing system manufacturers to support world-wide initiatives to eliminate contaminates damaging to the environment.
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http://www.qdot.com/
Q-DOT, Inc. is a contract research and development (R&D) corporation advancing the state-of-art in data acquisition, signal processing, imaging, and communications for over 23 years. Our work comprises a mix of conventional government and commercial contracts in addition to Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts. The SBIR contracts and other government programs provide both a means to pursue challenging, innovative developments and a door to opportunities for commercialization.
Q-DOT, Inc. was founded in 1977 by Thomas E. Linnenbrink, who is the current President and CEO. While originated in Chicago, Q-DOT was moved to Colorado Springs in 1983 to join in the explosive growth of business in semiconductor technologies taking place in this area. Originally, Q-DOT pursued applications of Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) in compact, low-power, low-cost instrumentation. Since moving to Colorado, the company's technological interests have expanded to include data conversion and communications using state-of-the-art processes and concepts. Q-DOT has been developing advanced integrated circuits in SiGe HBT/BiCMOS for over eight years.
In March 2001 Q-DOT was acquired by Simtek Corporation, based in Colorado Springs, CO. Simtek is a publicly traded integrated circuit manufacturer specializing in high performance nonvolatile memory products and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) built to customer specifications using FPGA designs. Q-Dot, Inc. will continue to support government sponsored R&D projects as a wholly owned subsidiary of Simtek, but with the additional goal of creating commercial products based on the advanced technology capabilities developed within the organization.
Two-IF Delta-Sigma ADDC
Q-DOT, Inc. is developing a bandpass Delta-Sigma (DS) analog-to-digital downconverter (ADDC) to acquire radar and communications channels directly from an IF signal. The ADDC will acquire 60 MHz signals at a high IF frequency (e.g., 500 MHz to 1500 MHz). The signal will be converted to high dynamic range (80 dB SINAD, 100 dB SFDR), output suitable for subsequent digital signal processing. The DS modulator is in development in advanced IBM SiGe BiCMOS technology.
High Speed Nyquist ADC
Q-DOT conceptually designed a wide bandwidth, monolithic, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) using advanced IBM SiGe BiCMOS technology intended for low-IF operation. The 10-bit ADC is designed to operate at 3.2 Gs/s with 3.5 GHz bandwidth. The major applications for a 10-bit, 3.2 Gs/s ADC lie in the next generation of instruments. Digital oscilliscopes (DSO), spectrum analyzers, and mass spectrometers will benefit greatly from the ADC.
High Speed DAC
Realized in IBM SiGe BiCMOS, this DAC is designed to convert 14-bit data at 5 Gs/s. Its algorithmic design promises >80 dB SFDR over its 2 GHz bandwidth. Prototype chips are ready for testing
Low Phase Noise Miniature Oscillator (MINO) for Advanced ADCs
Q-DOT is developing a low-noise (10 fs – 30 fs), miniature (5 x 5 x 12.5 mm3) oscillator (MINO) for use in advanced communications and radar systems. The MINO will provide the low-noise, nominally 3 GHz clock waveform for the next generation of ADCs. These 16-bit ADCs are challenged to achieve 100 MHz bandwidth with 100 dB SNR and 100 dB SFDR. The MINO will be a dramatic advance over the state-of-the-art, rack-mounted clock oscillators available today. The MINO circuitry will be realized in IBM SiGe HBT BiCMOS process.
Q-Dot Selects Sequence's Columbus- AMS For Inductance and Capacitance Extraction
SANTA CLARA - October 8, 2004 - Sequence Design today announced that Q-DOT, a company advancing the state-of-art in data conversion, signal processing, and communications, has selected Sequence's RLC Parasitic Extraction tool - Columbus-AMS - for inductance and capacitance extraction.
"Designing mixed-signal circuits well into the microwave region requires exceptional modeling to ensure first-pass success. Prior to using Columbus-AMS, inductance for critical circuit areas was manually calculated. Other tools did not provide the accuracy or ease-of-use required", said Don Herman, director of engineering for Q-DOT, Inc. "This caused numerous painstaking and time-consuming iterations as we identified and analyzed potential problems one small area at a time. But, with Columbus-AMS, inductance and capacitance are quickly and easily extracted for the entire design. This provides insight into potential oscillation and ringing without having to guess where the problems might originate. Columbus-AMS agrees well with our manual inductance calculations and return path analyses, providing the accuracy we need. And, it integrates cleanly into our design flow. Our engineers were able to get Columbus-AMS running and analyze a thorny mixed-signal circuit problem in a couple of weeks, after months of manual analysis."
Parasitic interconnect inductance becomes more prevalent on complex 130 nm circuits due to tightly packed clock trees and power grids, which in turn affect performance and yields. Even small inductances can cause 100+ GHz devices to oscillate. Sequence's Columbus-AMS inductance-modeling methodology has demonstrated greater success on mixed-signal and high-speed analog designs than traditional inductance parasitic approaches. Sequence's patented technology in this area has delivered unparalleled accuracy for ASIC and mixed-signal design houses worldwide.
"Today's high frequency designs must extract inductance or risk design failure," said Rob Mathews, vice president of product marketing, Sequence Design. "Q-DOT tested the limits of our tool. Their bleeding-edge development gives us a sense of where the future of design is going."
About Columbus-AMS
Columbus-AMS is part of Sequence's ExtractionStage suite, delivering unrivaled speed, accuracy, and capacity for designs below 180 nanometers (nm). Columbus-AMS has been adopted by NEC, Renesas, and Toshiba for their leading-edge designs. ExtractionStage manages the complex process-modeling and electrical-modeling challenges facing designers today.
* Accurate, device-level RLC extraction with NTX technology increases confidence in tapeouts
* Proven inductance extraction lets you meet analog specs and avoid post-tapeout surprises
* Selective parasitic modeling around devices eliminates double counting
* Compact parasitic netlists give efficient circuit simulation
* Graphical interface to Cadence Analog Design Environment™ controls extraction without leaving Virtuoso™
* Smart Probing™ lets you analyze R, C, and L interactively
* Supports popular LVS tools to complement your existing flow without tying you to a specific LVS tool
* Supports a wide variety of analog processes, including IBM 5- through 8-series SiGe and CMOS-RF
About Q-DOT
Q-DOT, Inc., a Simtek company, is a contract research and development (R&D) corporation advancing the state-of-art in data conversion, signal processing, and communications for over 27 years. Its work comprises a mix of conventional government and commercial contracts in addition to Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts. The SBIR contracts and other government programs provide both a means to pursue challenging, innovative developments and a door to opportunities for commercialization. For more information, please visit
http://www.qdot.com
About Sequence
Sequence Design, Inc. enables system-on-chip designers to bring higher-performance and lower-power integrated circuits quickly to fabrication. Sequence's power and signal integrity software give its more than 130 customers the competitive advantage they need to excel in aggressive technology markets, despite demanding complexity and time-to-market issues of nanometer design.
Sequence has worldwide development and field service operations. The company was recently named by Reed Electronics as one of the top 10 companies to watch in the electronics industry. Sequence is privately held. Sequence is a member of Cadence Design Systems' Connections™ and Mentor Graphics' Open Door™ partnership programs. Additional information is available at sequencedesign.com.
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Simtek's technology is far from simple. The fabless company's nvSRAM (nonvolatile static random-access memory) chips combine the high speeds of volatile SRAM with the reliability of nonvolatile memory, which retains data when power is turned off. Chartered Semiconductor manufactures the majority of the company's products, which are sold to copier, computer, telecom equipment, and industrial and military electronics manufacturers. Simtek also conducts contract research and development projects for the US government though its subsidiary, Q-DOT Group, Inc.
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (NASDAQ: CHRT [ADR])
60 Woodlands Industrial Park D, Street 2
738406 Singapore
Phone: +65-6362-2838
Fax: +65-6362-2938
Primary US Office
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http://www.charteredsemi.com external site content
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Covered by Lee Simmons
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing is committed to chips. The company is the world's #3 semiconductor foundry, well behind industry titans Taiwan Semiconductor and United Microelectronics. Chartered works from customers' designs to produce communications chips in its own wafer fabrication plants (fabs). Besides its own fabs, Chartered operates joint venture facilities with Agilent and Agere. It offers chip assembly and test services through sister firm STATS ChipPAC. Top customers include Broadcom, Motorola, and STMicroelectronics. Singapore Technologies -- which is wholly owned by the Singapore government -- owns more than 60% of Chartered.
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Company Type Public (NASDAQ: CHRT [ADR]; Singapore: CHARTERED external site content)
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Fiscal Year-End December
2004 Sales (mil.) $932.1
1-Year Sales Growth 68.9%
2004 Net Income (mil.) $6.6
2004 Employees 3,606
1-Year Employee Growth 9.8%
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President, CEO, and Director Song Hwee Chia This feature is for subscribers.
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