Philips sells MEMs foundry Xiver

Philips has sold its Xiver MEMS division to Orange Mills Ventures, owned by Cees Meeuwis, Telegraaf reports.

Xiver claims to be the only independent MEMS foundry in Europe that is not Owned by the Chinese. The company employs 100 people and is considered unprofitable.

“Xiver is heading towards a very bright future with great growth,” says CEO John Van Soerland, “driven by the unique products we produce here in Eindhoven, combined with the highly skilled employees working here.”

Chairman Kees Wesdorp adds: “This was a unique opportunity for us that doesn’t come around very often. XIVER is a promising company offering groundbreaking innovations in the healthcare, automotive and high-tech markets, among others.”

Xiver’s markets include medical technology, automotive, industrial and photonics. The company focuses on moving from research and development to production, focusing on precision, reliability and quality control.

The company supplies ultra-thin membranes for ASML’s EUV lithography machines and supplies innovative filters for infrared detectors in the automotive industry.

The company has expertise and intellectual property in capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) technology, which has the potential to be a breakthrough in out-of-hospital portable medical ultrasound applications.

“I look forward to putting our semiconductor and medical technology expertise to work, building on Philips’ unique R&D heritage,” says Wesdorf, “and I am proud to work with such an experienced and talented team.” .

Philips has as long a history in semiconductors as the industry itself. It previously sold NXP Semiconductors, ASMI and ASML. Now it’s a medical company.