Chartered makes investment in Taiwan-based design services company Socle

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- 6/10/2008

Semiconductor foundry Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing has made a strategic investment in Taiwan-based SoC design services and embedded platforms company Socle Technology Corp.

The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

Socle, one of several qualified Chartered global design services partners, said it will use the investment to support future growth and expansion.

Further, Chartered and Socle said they will collaborate on developing and optimizing design services for customers targeting Chartered’s advanced manufacturing processes as Socle provides design services and development kits that span the chip design process from initial specification through design implementation to final chip assembly and testing.

“Socle has developed a strong expertise in helping customers develop complex SoC designs, and its embedded platforms are production-proven. Its experience in hardening ARM cores and developing ARM-based platforms is especially appealing to our customer base. As an investment for Chartered, we believe Socle has a solid business model and is well-resourced to address new opportunities,” concluded Kay Chai “KC” Ang, senior VP of worldwide sales and marketing for Chartered, in a statement Monday.

Scottsdale, Ariz-based market research company IC Insights Inc ranks Chartered as the fourth largest IC foundry based on 2007 sales.

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