A Brazilian Semiconductor Step Forward

On January 18, 2011 CEITEC S.A., a semiconductor manufacturer in Porto Alegre, Brazil, announced the successful completion of a 12 month field trial of an RFID chip that can be implanted in cattle for positive identification. This application is important for Brazil. Beef is one of Brazil’s largest exports. The RFID chip will allow beef to continue to be shipped to Europe and Japan in the event of a mad cow disease scare in South America; because the origin and movements of cattle can be tracked, from ranch to market, providing proof that the beef is not from a suspect herd or area. The rest of the world should take notice. This is a Brazilian semiconductor, designed and fabricated in Brazil. What do you think about when you think of Brazil: inflation, F1 racing drivers, soccer, something else? Think again! Brazil is a major market. It is a country of more than 200 million people, the fifth largest country in the world. It has a stable, democratic government, and inflation has been brought under control. It is one of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India China), identified as developing countries with high growth rates and the potential to become among the world’s dominant economies in the future. Although Brazil’s GDP growth dropped in 2009, along with the rest of the world, its GDP has been growing at rates exceeding 5% annually. CEITEC S.A. is a startup IC company partially funded by the Brazilian government. The company opened a design center in 2009 and began building a fab. It has partnerships and agreements with companies such as X-Fabs, Cadence Design Systems and Freescale. The goal is to make CEITIC and Brazil a hub for the microelectronics industry in South America. Growth rates in China and India have been receiving much attention, while Brazil’s growth has been nearly unnoticed. But Brazil also has potential. End-use market growth rates in Brazil will exceed growth rates in more developed countries, and Brazil will become an important semiconductor source. CEITEC and the RFID cattle chip is only the beginning. Morry Marshall Vice President, Strategic Technologies