For nearly 20 years, Silicon Image has set the benchmark for delivering connectivity solutions across a wide array of devices in the home, office and on the go.
The company led the creation of the highly successful DVI™, HDMI® and MHL® standards, and more recently became a driving force behind the 60GHz WirelessHD ® standard.
Chances are, your mobile phone, tablet, DTV or notebook PC all include Silicon Image’s technology. The majority of global brands in the mobile, consumer electronics and PC markets include either the company’s semiconductor products or intellectual property to let these devices connect and interact with each other.
In marketing Silicon Image’s connectivity products, Chief Executive Officer Camillo Martino continues to develop partnerships in Japan and establish relationships that have greatly contributed to the company’s success.
“Our typical model has been to form a founding group with industry leading companies and work together to develop the best technology for a given market application. From there, we continue our collaboration with the top industry leaders and partners who can truly make the technology a worldwide standard. Japanese companies have played a very important role in that process,” said Martino.
“Japan has always been an advanced technology partner for us, pushing the limits of technology innovations to drive richer product features ultimately providing a better consumer experience."
- Silicon Image Chief Executive Officer Camillo Martino
The Sunnyvale, California-based company, founded in 1995, made its first foray into the industry standards business with the creation of DVI in 1999, followed in 2002 by the creation of the highly successful HDMI specification, the digital interface technology that can now be found in over four billion products worldwide.
Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba joined Silicon Image in developing the HDMI specification, in addition to Philips and Technicolor S.A. (formerly Thomson S.A.).
“Our customers in Japan were amongst the first to adopt HDMI technology in their products and helped pave the way for the worldwide adoption of the HDMI standard,” said Martino. “Japan has always been an advanced technology partner for us, pushing the limits of technology innovations to drive richer product features ultimately providing a better consumer experience. This is why Japan is very important to Silicon Image and why we will continue to work on building long-term, mutually beneficial strategic relationships with our Japanese customers for many years to come.”
Following the creation of HDMI, Silicon Image was joined by Sony, Toshiba, Samsung and Nokia to develop MHL, the mobile connectivity standard now found in four of the top five smartphone brands and in nine of the top ten DTV brands.
The MHL technology standard, launched in 2010, is now in more than half a billion products across the globe.
For 2014, the company hopes to see Japan account for 25 percent of total business revenue, driven by continuing advancements in its HDMI, MHL and 60GHz solutions. Martino points out that Japan is critical to Silicon Image’s model for growth worldwide, as Japan is recognized globally for its early adoption of the latest technology innovations and standards.
- This Special Report on Northern California originally appeared in The Japan Times on July 29, 2014 (Credit: Philippe Le Saux)
