Silicon Distributor AdvanIDe Positioned Well for Mobile Growth

Early in 2013, the San Jose Mercury News reported on the downturn of Silicon Valley’s semiconductor industry as suggested by the annual SV150 report on top chip makers. Reasons for the steady decline since 2008 included reduced sales from the still sluggish economy, competition and overproduction, and notably, the rise of the mobile market which, reduced demand for personal computing components. Even longtime silicon powerhouse Intel saw profits drop fifteen percent in 2012.

Though far from Silicon Valley, silicon supplier AdvanIDe (Advanced ID Electronics) saw a new way to grow through the mobile boom and has been slowly restructuring to meet new demands. Focusing on components for near field communications, RFID, and most recently secure transactions, the company has expanded globally while others have downsized. In late 2011 AdvanIDe concentrated on penetrating the market in Southeast Asia with a new, Singapore based Director of Sales. 2012 saw the opening of an office in Brazil, and in late 2013 an office opened in Prague to service the markets in Europe and Scandanavia. One smart move on AdvanIDe’s part has been hiring local talent for these new positions, acquiring contacts and regional market knowledge that takes years to develop. They’ve stuck with that strategy in their latest growth endeavor, hiring Joe Lo, a twenty year veteran of the secure identity market to head up their Secure ID & Transactions Division.

The hiring is part of an overall restructuring that will expand AdvanIDe’s outreach into transaction security; a natural fit for the technology they build and a growth sector of the mobile market. Other moves include Holger Winterhalter’s appointment as segment head for the new Secure Access segment. Previously, Winterhalter served at head of line management.

Winterhalter commented, “AdvanIDe already has a very strong position in the Secure Access market segment, as one of the leading suppliers of silicon for RFID and chip cards in the smartcard and identification industry. We will be further extending our portfolio for this market segment so we can accelerate growth opportunities while expanding and enhancing our offering for our customers.”

Global market researchers IDTechEX has projected the RFID market to rise by more than sixteen billion dollars by 2020, making physical RFID security and access control contributing to about one quarter of that growth.