Veteran Fujitsu exec to lead U.S. chip subsidiary

Veteran Fujitsu exec to lead U.S. chip subsidiary

SAN FRANCISCO—Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd. announced that 32-year Fujitsu veteran Satoru Yamaguchi was named president and CEO of its U.S. subsidiary, Fujitsu Semiconductor America Inc. (FSA), and president and CEO of its wireless IC subsidiary, Fujitsu Wireless Products Inc. (FSWP).

At FSA, Yamaguchi replaces Hiroyuki Hojo, who will take on the role of executive advisor for Fujitsu Semiconductor in Japan, Fujitsu said. At FSWP, Yamaguchi replaces Yutaka Suzuk, who is retiring, Fujitsu said.

Yamaguchi, who joined Fujitsu in 1980, spend the early part of his career as a design engineer, manager and director and was involved in the development of several leading-edge engineering projects at both Fujitsu Ltd. and Fujitsu VLSI Ltd. In 2004, Yamaguchi became the vice general manager of Fujitsu' System Micro Division and became the head of the Advanced Solutions Division of Fujitsu Ltd. the next year. In 2010, he was named president and CEO of Fujitsu VLSI. Last year, he was appointed corporate vice president of Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd.

Yamaguchi said through a statement that his mission at FSA would be to leverage Fujitsu Semiconductor's technologies and capabilities to nurture business in the Americas and globally. "To best serve our customers, we need to combine our advanced semiconductor solutions with similarly advanced software tools and support," Yamaguchi said. "In other words, we need to go one step further and offer sophisticated, total solutions to our customers worldwide."

In a separate statement issued later, Yamaguchi said his vision for FSWP is is to provide global customers with secure connectivity solutions by combining its digital RF technology with the other technologies and capabilities of the Fujitsu Semiconductor group. "The future will increasingly be interconnected, where everything from automobiles to household devices will be networked," Yamaguchi said.

FSWP, which develops RF transceivers for mobile cellular handsets and other portable wireless devices, was acquired by Fujitsu from Freescale Semiconductor Inc. in 2009. It was established in July 2010 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Semiconductor. The group, which traces its roots back to Motorola Inc. prior to the Freescale spinout, has been responsible for several notable innovations in the cellular industry, including the industry's first SAW-less 2G/3G transceiver architecture as well as the first SAW-less multimode transceiver integrating 2G/3G/LTE modes in a single device. FSWP is based in Tempe, Ariz.

TAG:Fujitsu Wireless Satoru Yamaguchi Semiconductor