Not wanting to be left out, Gregg Lowe, Freescale's president and CEO – and who maybe inspecting his garden more closely in the future – told those dialling in that he was also excited. "There are two complementary product portfolios," he continued, "and we are coming together from a position of strength." Freescale, he added, was firing on all cylinders – alluding, no doubt, to the automotive market for which the combined company will be the leading supplier.
Despite the apparent overlap of products – microcontrollers is just one example of where both companies have significant ARM based portfolios – the only action deemed necessary to avoid unwanted attention from regulatory bodies is for NXP to divest its high performance RF group. "Discussions are in progress with two companies," Clemmer reported.
But the big question is where NXP sees the $500million savings it says it can make. One target outlined by NXP's finance boss is support and admin staff, where there are 'synergies'. But he added that costs might be saved by negotiating 'better deals' for the two companies, a comment probably aimed at the foundry sector.
Planning for the future starts this week, said Lowe. Undoubtedly, employees of both companies may be doing the same thing.
