中國無晶圓廠芯片設計產業(yè)向來呈現(xiàn)小廠各立山頭、在本土智能手機芯片市場低毛利的激烈競爭下，這種情勢正開始出現(xiàn)轉變。 擁有中國官方背景的投資機構紫光集團(Tsinghua Unigroup)在7月份時宣布收購中國本土 TD-SCDMA 基頻芯片供應商展訊(Spreadtrum Communications)，而最近中國RF芯片設計大廠銳迪科(RDA Microelectronics)也被收歸該集團旗下。

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而這波中國本土手機芯片業(yè)者的合并熱潮，有可能最后結合成一股足以與臺灣聯(lián)發(fā)科(MediaTek)匹敵的勢力；不過與美國大廠高通(Qualcomm)仍有一段差距。 EETimes美國版編輯近期聯(lián)系的數(shù)個中國電子產業(yè)界消息來源認為，對展訊來說，被紫光集團收購是最合乎邏輯、可能也是最好的選擇；目前展訊除了要在高階智能手機市場挑戰(zhàn)聯(lián)發(fā)科，同時還要在低階手機市場與銳迪科一較高下。 此外，如一位中國產業(yè)界高層所言，展訊與銳迪科：“在利潤超薄的低階手機市場相互競爭，而且該市場正在衰退；因此這兩家公司的合并對于中國電子產業(yè)來說是件好事?！彼A期在未來會有更多的這類合并案發(fā)生；他也認為，中國半導體市場目前是有許多聰明人爭搶越來越低的毛利，這是產業(yè)界不能承受的。 雖然眾多中國產業(yè)界消息來源對以上的近期發(fā)展抱持正面看法，但對于接下來的變化則意見分歧；有部分產業(yè)高層認為，紫光集團的舉動是一項“純粹的金融活動”， 但更多人認為此舉的幕后推手是為了強盛本土電子產業(yè)的中國政府。還有人看得更遠，認為其它中國無晶圓廠芯片設計業(yè)者如全志(Allwinner)、瑞芯微 (Rockchip)將因此面臨滅亡。 本文授權編譯自EE Times，版權所有，謝絕轉載 本文下一頁：紫光集團到底是一個什么樣的組織？

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• 銳迪科不愿委身展訊，皆因價格沒談到位ulXesmc

{pagination} 紫光集團到底是一個什么樣的組織，外界知之甚少──特別是對西方世界來說；而該集團的業(yè)務范圍以及內部營運成員細節(jié)，甚至是中國當?shù)貥I(yè)者也不清楚。 根據(jù)一些基本訊息，紫光集團有51%股份為清華控股(Tsinghua Holdings)所有，后者是由北京清華大學注資、百分之百的中國國營企業(yè)。紫光集團的其余49%股份是由一家私營機構健坤投資集團(Jiankun Investment Group)持有，負責人為趙偉國，他也是紫光集團總裁暨CEO。 一位中國電子產業(yè)界高層表示，趙偉國在上述收購案操控全局，除利用清華控股資源、也向銀行取得足夠融資；他表示：“趙偉國是一個真正的生意人，而且對中國的經(jīng)濟、復雜政治情況與資本市場非 常了解。”換句話說，他對市場商機極度敏感，而且他的目標是在高科技領域賺錢，該領域與中國房地產市場相較，并不是一個很好的投資標的。 值得注意的是，紫光集團都是以溢價收購展訊與銳迪科。該集團收購展訊的總金額是17.8億美元，而銳迪科收購價則是9.1億美元；對銳迪科每股18.5美元的收購金額，是該公司當周五收盤價17.53美元的5.5%溢價。

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本文授權編譯自EE Times，版權所有，謝絕轉載 本文下一頁：紫光集團的收購動機何在？

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• 紫光集團再祭大手筆，“雙11”豪取銳迪科
• 展訊借力紫光私有化，回歸A股是正途
• 銳迪科不愿委身展訊，皆因價格沒談到位ulXesmc

{pagination} 究竟紫光集團如何籌到收購融資？有一位中國產業(yè)界高層表示，紫光集團的資本額是8.2億美元，還低于對銳迪科的收購價；因此他認為銳迪科的幕后真正買主不是紫光集團，但其中有20~30億美元資金與該集團有關：“中國國營企業(yè)的特色就是：所有的信息都是不透明的?！? 紫光集團的官網(wǎng)信息顯示，該集團的投資領域包括信息科技、能源/環(huán)保、生命科學以及材料科學，此外還有職訓、金融服務、國際貿易、房地產等等。 那些認為紫光集團收購案是純粹金融活動的人士，指出此投資行為的動機有三：首先，兩大中國本地無晶圓廠芯片設計業(yè)者的合并，能在它們各自被聯(lián)發(fā)科擊敗之前取 得生存機會；第二，這兩家Nasdaq上市公司在紫光集團的保護傘下重回私有化，在業(yè)務發(fā)展上將可取得更多回旋空間，還可取得紫光集團與清華大學的專利技術。 第三，在紫光集團下合并的展訊與銳迪科，必然會在短期之內重新上市；業(yè)界消息來源認為，若能透過上市取得更大商機，紫光集團不會浪費時間。 而幾乎所有人都同意，銳迪科與展訊的互補性，能在未來順利完成合并。一位中國半導體產業(yè)觀察家指出，展訊的唯一強項是TD-SCDMA，銳迪科則是專長于RF，兩家公司在打造應用處理器方面的能力都很弱；此外銳迪科擅長IC硬件開發(fā)，缺乏軟件設計能力。

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展訊為市面上不少TD手機提供解決方案 本文授權編譯自EE Times，版權所有，謝絕轉載 本文下一頁：抗衡高通，一定要拿下展訊和銳迪科

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{pagination} 該產業(yè)觀察家表示，因此展訊與銳迪科的合并，意味著全志與瑞芯微恐怕面臨滅亡；因為前兩家公司未來將可涉足平板電腦應用處理器市場。 中國產業(yè)界人士認為，展訊與銳迪科合并之后的新公司，會偏向聚焦于新一代無線技術研發(fā)，不會花太多時間在已經(jīng)衰退的低階手機市場競爭；他們指出，目前在中國的GSM功能手機市場，只余聯(lián)發(fā)科與展訊還在激烈競爭。 針對紫光集團的收購案，市場研究機構Forward Concepts總經(jīng)理Will Strauss則表示，他對該集團幾乎一無所知，但：“確實，如果想打造一家足以與高通(在技術能力與營收能力上)匹敵的中國本土企業(yè)，展訊與銳迪科是兩家我一定不會放過的公司?！? 本文授權編譯自EE Times，版權所有，謝絕轉載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：Merger Pits Mysterious Tsinghua Unigroup vs. MediaTek，by Junko Yoshida

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{pagination} Merger Pits Mysterious Tsinghua Unigroup vs. MediaTek Junko Yoshida PARIS -- The industry landscape among China's fabless chip companies -- fragmented among too many little players fighting for a low-margin smartphone chip business in the domestic market -- is about to change. Through Tsinghua Unigroup's initiative to acquire the leading TD-SCDMA baseband chip vendor Spreadtrum Communications (announced in July) and now China's RF IC leader RDA Microelectronics (disclosed earlier this week), hopes are running high in China that its domestic electronics industry might finally get a consolidated entity powerful enough to compete with Taiwan's MediaTek, if not quite an equivalent to Qualcomm in the United States. According to several sources in China's electronics industry EE Times talked to this week, getting acquired by Tsinghua Unigroup is the most logical and probably the best option left for Spreadtrum, which needs to compete with MediaTek on the high-end smartphone business while fighting off RDA on the low-end of the market. Further, consider that both Spreadtrum and RDA are "competing in a low end market where the profit is razor thin, and the market is declining," one Chinese executive noted. "The consolidation of the two companies is a good thing for China electronics." He expects to see this happen more in the future. The Chinese semiconductor industry, with a lot of smart people working but all of them competing on lower and lower margins, is not sustainable, he explained. While many Chinese industry sources see the recent development positively, opinions differ about what comes next. Some Chinese executives view Tsinghua Unigroup's move as "a pure financial play," while others put more stock in a behind-the-scenes ploy by the Chinese government to strengthen China's electronics industry. Others even go further, predicting a doomsday scenario for other Chinese fabless companies such as Allwinner and Rockchip. About Tsinghua Unigroup Little is known about Tsinghua Unigroup -- especially in the West. When it comes to details of the group's business and people involved in running the business, it's not all that clear even in China, either. Here are the basics. Tsinghua Unigroup is 51 percent owned by Tsinghua Holdings, a 100 percent state-owned limited liability corporation funded by Tsinghua University in China. Forty-nine percent of Tsinghua Unigroup is owned by private entity -- Jiankun Investment Group Co., Ltd. -- controlled by Zhao Weiguo. Weiguo serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tsinghua Unigroup. According to one Chinese electronics industry executive, Weiguo is "playing the whole game by leveraging Tsinghua resources and getting enough bank loans for supporting this deal." He called Weiguo "a real businessman and understands China economics/complicated politics and capital market very well." In short, Weiguo is "somebody who can smell blood from thousands miles away." He is set to make money investing in the high-tech sector, rather than the real-estate business, which isn't looking good right now in China. It's important to note that Tsinghua Unigroup is paying a premium to buy both Spreadtrum and RDA. Tsinghua Unigroup's acquisition of Spreadtrum is a $1.78 billion deal, while RDA is selling itself to Tsinghua Unigroup for about $910 million. The $18.50 per share deal announced by RDA earlier this week represents a premium of 5.5 percent to RDA's Friday close of $17.53 on the Nasdaq. The question is, then, how is Tsinghua Unigroup financing all these deals. Another Chinese industry source said, "The notable thing about Tsinghua Unigroup is that it has a market cap of $820 million, less than what they proposed to RDA." He suspects that the real buyer of RDA is "not Unigroup, but a $2-$3 billion fund which is related to Unigroup." He then added, "That's the beauty of China's state-owned public companies: there is nothing transparent." The Tsinghua Unigroup's website shows that the group has its hands in various fields ranging from information technology, energy/environment, science of life, and science of materials to occupational education, finance services, international trade, and real estate. Pure financial play Those who see Tsinghua Unigroup's acquisitions as "a pure financial play" pose a three-step scenario. First, the consolidation of China's two leading fabless chip companies (Spreadtrum and RDA are currently both public companies traded in Nasdaq) will help them both survive before the two companies get clobbered by MediaTek. Second, by going private again under the umbrella of Tsinghua Unigroup, the two companies will gain more leeway in business development -- in addition to access to the IP portfolio of Tsinghua Unigroup and Tsinghua University. Third, the new Spreadtrum, consolidated with RDA under Tsinghua Unigroup, will "go public in the near term," the sources said. Tsinghua Unigroup won't waste time making a big financial gain by doing so, they added. Complementary Where everyone agrees is about the complementary roles RDA and Spreadtrum can play under the new structure. One Chinese semiconductor industry observer explained, "Spreadtrum is weak in everything except TD-SCDMA, while RDA is strong in RF. Both are weak in application processors." Further, he added, "Spreadtrum's IC R&D is weak, but strong in software. Meanwhile, RDA is very strong in IC R&D, but has no real software development." As a result, combining these two "means doomsday for Allwinner and Rockchip," he noted, because Spreadtrum and RDA could ramp up tablet application processor efforts. The Chinese industry's expectation is that the final entity (new Spreadtrum-RDA) will focus more on new wireless technology R&D, while they will spend less time competing in a declining low-end market. As for the market in feature phones for GSM, the serious competition comes down to just MediaTek and Spreadtrum, they explained. Asked about the latest shopping spree by Tsinghua Unigroup, Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts (Tempe, Arizona), noted that he knows almost nothing about Tsinghua Unigroup. But he added, "Actually, if you wanted to create a China-based company that could (with a lot of work and a lot of money) someday rival Qualcomm, Spreadtrum and RDA are the two companies that I would pick."