INTERVIEW mobile devices like smart phones and tablets as well as high-end consumer devices. These are the four key markets that we are focusing on now. What’s the motivation behind ZMDI’s standard product line and how it changed over the years? The most important part is always thinking about how the customer can benefit from the products we offer and how they can improve their product’s performance and be successful. We call these products “platform products,” and they offer a unique opportunity for our customers to take advantage of our existing know-how and improve their intellectual property. Their finished parts can then be used to test their applications, and so the technical risk for them to work with us is very low. With that, we’ve been able to build the application know-how into our parts, which then can be built into products. the customers can benefit from that. What are the advantages of ZMDI being a fabless semiconductor company? In terms of being fabless, I’d say that the major effect of it was really enabling what we refer to as: “focus, focus, focus.” We focus on our core competency, which is technology; i.e., the product itself and its product definition. This is key, and becoming fabless allowed us to allocate greater financial investment in our product development, marketing, development kits, and application engineering. We feel so strongly about the necessity for this type of investment that we are currently allocating 30% of our revenue into product development, which is a relatively big number compared to others in the industry. What sets ZMDI apart is the fact that
“The most important part is always thinking about how the customer can benefit from the products we offer and how they can improve their product’s performance and be successful. “ we have been a high-end analog company for over 50 years. We have done a lot of analog integration, which is something that is also unique. We really strive to get the customer the best product for the best price, which also distinguishes us from our competition. Could you tell us about your investments and initiatives that you’ve taken since 2012 to grow the company? A portion of investments have gone to brand building. The other portion has been devoted to doubling our sales force in the past two years— especially in the U.S. and Asia. On top of that, we have invested in additional application labs in all of our major regions. We have one in Silicon Valley, one in Boston, one in Seoul, and one in Munich. Whenever our customers within a region have expressed a need, we have listened and built labs to help our customers design their products. How have customers responded to these application labs? The application labs are very effective for our customers. When the customer finalizes a technical solution and
then the moment comes when they want to design the solution into their application, then that is when the customer needs good technical support and guidance. Our teams have been great in helping the customers overcome the last little hurdles in their product design. This is why the investment in the application labs has been great for ZMDI. What is ZMDI doing in terms of expanding its distribution? When we started to develop an additional portfolio of standard products three years ago, we started small with our distribution—but I would estimate our distribution now is around 5%. We have generated 120 new products in the last three years, and we have around 70 new products coming out this year, so with this increase, we expect our sales through distribution to grow considerably. Our aim is within three years to see our fulfillment via distribution to be at 25%. We see our distributors as partners, so we need to give them the right support levels and make sure there’s no internal competition so that they can thrive. When, collectively, we have the same mindset in place and the right incentives, then it will be a great area for us to grow. Visit www.eeweb.com
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