Infineon wins Innovation Award of German Industry; ultra-low-cost, one-chip mobile phones for global markets

Neubiberg, Germany – Infineon has won the Innovation Award of German Industry for the best technological innovation in the category of “large-scale enterprises”. The prestigious German Industry Award goes to Infineon’s X-GOLD™101 (E-GOLDvoice™) mobile communications chip and it is the second time Infineon has received the honour.

“There is a high global demand for mobile communication by people seeking a good connection and SMS capability. It is essential, particularly in the emerging markets, that the mobile devices come at low cost”, says Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul, Management Board Member responsible for Sales, Marketing, Research and Development at Infineon Technologies AG. “Infineon’s X-GOLD101 is a groundbreaking innovation. It means a simple mobile phone can be made from a single chip, cutting mobile phone manufacturers’ costs by over 30 percent. We anticipate that in the coming years we will still see a significant increase in demand for low-cost, easily operated mobile phones with SMS capability.”

This mobile communications development, launched as a world first by Infineon, packs a variety of basic components onto a single chip on an area the size of a finger nail (8 x 8 mm). These include a baseband processor, transceiver, power management and memory functions formerly distributed over four chips each taking double the space. The X-GOLD101 is the heart of Infineon’s second platform generation for low-cost mobile phones. Infineon’s innovative solution helps its customers to shorten development time for phones from one year to only 3 to 4 months. Furthermore, it reduces the electronic component count in a simple mobile phone from over 200 to fewer than 50, substantially lowering manufacturing cost and minimizing the logistical input involved.

Numerous well-known mobile handset makers have already decided for this solution from Infineon, including major suppliers such as Nokia, LG and ZTE, who make mobile phones for Vodafone.

Following last year’s Decade Award, the special award for sustained innovative achievement, this year’s Innovation Award of German Industry marks the second time Infineon has received the accolade. In 2001 the award for the best technological innovation in the category of “large-scale enterprises” went to Infineon’s CoolMOS™ power semiconductor families.

The mobile phone chip is the perfect complement to Infineon’s product portfolio. The company offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, communications and security.

The project was sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Please do also listen to our Podcast with Prof. Dr. Eul on target markets, the solution and the challenges at www.infineon.com/Podcast

Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, communications, and security. In the 2008 fiscal year (ending September), the company reported sales of Euro 4.3 billion with approximately 29,100 employees worldwide. With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the U.S. from Milpitas, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore, and in Japan from Tokyo. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Infineon currently holds a 77.5 percent equity interest in Qimonda AG. Qimonda is separately listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “QI”.