Tony James, managing director of UK-based semiconductor representative company, Firefly Technology talks to EW about the repping business in Europe and start-up activity.
Q. How would you describe the role of a repping company?
Tony James: Reps now need to get under the skin of their principals and their customers to a much greater extent than ever before, to provide the sharp, detailed support that principals and customers expect. We’ve had to globalise like everyone else – and the ability to manage a project front to back through the OEM, the design house, the ODM and/or the subcontract manufacturer is key for us.
Q. What are the main factors you take into account when deciding to promote a new semiconductor start-up in the European market?
Tony James: Beyond due diligence on the company, its’ technology, its’ people, and its’ ‘go to market’ strategy, cultural fit and trust are still fundamental. We look for an open, driven and hungry culture, that is receptive to us becoming part of the internal team. Without trust, we’re unlikely to mutually deliver on each others goals.
Q. In which markets do you see the main design activity right now?
Tony James: Two of our focus areas are video and communications, and it’s exciting to see that the long promised convergence between consumer and communications electronics is finally happening.
Q. Is there chip innovation in the UK and if so do you see UK-based chip design firms approaching you with a product or technology to take to market?
Tony James: We do – and we’d like to see more of them. US start-ups tend to be driven by their VCs to partner closely with early lead customers, to a greater extent than we’re seeing in the UK. The UK is excellent at spinning innovation out of its universities, but the resulting companies aren’t always born with the commercial maturity of Valley start-ups. They often believe they can manage customer relationship development themselves in their home market, but I think we can make this process much faster and more effective.
Q. In your view how is the China Phenomenon affecting the European semiconductor industry?
Tony James: Talking to US and Japanese companies, I find that they face very similar challenges to those that we do. Culturally, we’re better than we think we are at adapting to manage business relationships with different cultural environments. Often, the biggest barrier is the linguistic one, which is why we’ve taken the step of recruiting Chinese speakers to our team here in the UK.