VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC) presented the first Intelligent Chip (IC) in Vietnam by showing the draft design of this "fabless" micro-processor at a press briefing in HCMC on Wednesday.

The super chip coded VS8801A is produced using Adaptive ASPWM Controlled Technology by integrating up to eight analog chips into one for power-management control.

This microprocessor is applicable for a wide range of portable devices such as smart phones, PDAs, MP4 players and digital cameras.

Capable of up to 1MHZ, the VS8801A can be used to build eight separate channels of DC/ DC converters that provide energy to various types of load with high efficiency, low ripples and low external component count.

The price of the VS8801A is an competitive edge. Vo Huu Hai, CEO of VSMC, said the chip's price would be three to four times lower than other chips with similar specifications and functions.

It is a potential product as smart phones tend to be equipped with more functions, he said.

VSMC does not produce the chip itself; it completes the design and has it manufactured at the factory of Taiwan's Semi-conductor Manufacturing Company. The reason to follow this "fabless" model is that building a manufactory could cost hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars, said Hai.

He said it would work better for the domestic industry if Vietnam owned the technology, designed the chip, and then outsourced the manufacturing to other makers with their existing facilities.

In the next three months, VSMC will have the VS8801A's prototype to make offers to Samsung and Nokia as well as commercialize the product in China through three agencies there.

Hal told the Daily that the VS8801A could not be commercialized in Vietnam for at least five years from now as there are no original digital devices makers in Vietnam.

The company will cooperate with tech universities in Vietnam to provide training courses on chip design for students.

(Source: SGT)