Chip Expansion on a Budget: STMicro CEO Spurns Big-Money Deals
- $1.4 Billion yearly R&D enough for broad-range strategy: CEO
- Qualcomm unveiled $47 billion bid for STMicro rival NXP
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Expanding beyond smartphones into serving carmakers is costing Qualcomm Inc. $47 billion, in the largest deal in chip history. STMicroelectronics NV’s chief executive officer says he needs a budget about 3 percent of that.
To tailor to customers from Apple Inc. to Robert Bosch GmbH and upkeep a broad range of products from smartphone sensors to digital components for cars, STMicro’s research and development budget of as much as $1.4 billion a year is enough, CEO Carlo Bozotti said in an interview Thursday. While his company has “the capital structure to do important M&A,” deals aren’t a priority, he said.