GSA recognizes semiconductor companies that have demonstrated excellence through their success, vision, strategy and future opportunities in the industry at its Awards Dinner Celebration. It is an honor to be selected as a nominee and an even more distinguished achievement to win a GSA Award!

Click here to view Past Winners.

Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award

GSA is pleased to announce Dr. Henry Samueli, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Broadcom Corporation as the 2011 Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award winner.

After earning his Ph.D. degree from UCLA in 1980, Dr. Samueli spent his early career designing military broadband communications systems at TRW, Inc. He subsequently moved on, in 1985, to become an electrical engineering professor at UCLA, where he led a research program in the area of advanced digital communications architectures and circuits. His team achieved many breakthrough developments by proving that low-cost CMOS technologies (1.0um in those days) could be used to implement all the key digital, analog and RF building blocks to enable multi-hundred Mbit/sec digital communications transceivers operating at GHz RF frequencies.

Dr. Samueli subsequently founded Broadcom in 1991 with one of his Ph.D. students, Henry Nicholas. In the early days the company pioneered the U.S. cable industry’s transition to digital television by creating the world’s first broadband digital cable transmission solution, which ultimately expanded and evolved into one of Broadcom’s major business areas today, encompassing a complete portfolio of technologies for the digital home. Another early project involved the development of the industry’s first all-digital CMOS implementation of a Fast Ethernet transceiver. This pioneering work launched Broadcom into its second major business segment, which today encompasses a complete portfolio of transmission and switching technologies for the infrastructure and networking market.

Read more about Dr. Samueli.

Private Company Awards

Outstanding Revenue Growth by a Private Semiconductor Company

Up to five private semiconductor companies that doubled revenue over eight consecutive quarters ending June 2011 may be eligible to receive an award for their outstanding revenue performance. Due to confidentiality, all submitted forms are sent directly to PricewaterHouseCoopers (PwC), one of the world's largest professional services firms, to determine which companies experienced the highest revenue growth during the designated time period. GSA does not receive a copy of financial data within submissions.

Winners:

• SandForce, Inc.
• Silicon Mitus, Inc.

Start-Up to Watch Award

GSA Award's Committee, comprised of members of the Emerging Company CEO Council, venture capitalists and select serial entrepreneurs in the industry, selects the winner of the Start-Up To Watch award by identifying the semiconductor company that demonstrates the potential to positively change its market or the semiconductor industry in general through the innovative use of semiconductor technology or a new application for semiconductor technology.

Nominees:

• Amalfi Semiconductor - winner
• Netronome
• Newport Media, Inc.
• Quantenna Communications, Inc.

Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company Award

The industry's Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company award is designed to identify the private company garnering the most respect from the industry in terms of its products, vision and future opportunity. GSA's Awards Committee reviews all private semiconductor companies, and the selected nominees and winner are based on the committee's analysis of each company's performance and likelihood of long-term success.

Nominees:

• Ambarella, Inc. - winner
• Aptina Imaging Corporation
• SandForce, Inc.

Public Company Awards

All public company awards are determined by GSA using public financial data; therefore, nomination forms are unnecessary.

Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Company Award

The Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Company Award is derived based on a broad evaluation of the financial health and performance of public fabless and IDM semiconductor companies. Numerous financial metrics as well as their respective rates of change or year-over-year improvement are analyzed. These financial metrics transverse various categories including but not limited to growth rates, margins, cash flow, profitability ratios, efficiency ratios and return on capital. All companies are ranked on each metric as well as its rate of change, and then the overall performance is compared to the peer universe to determine the winner.

Nominees:

• Altera Corporation
• Avago Technologies - winner
• Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving $10 Billion+ in Annual Sales)

The industry's Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company (>$10 billion in annual sales) award is designed to identify the public company garnering the most respect from the industry in terms of its products, vision and future opportunities. The criteria for this award include achieving annual sales above $10 billion. In addition, profitability and market capitalization, among other financial and product successes, are considered to be listed on the ballot. On-line voting takes place to allow members of the semiconductor industry, including semiconductor companies and partners, to cast a ballot for the public semiconductor company they most respect. Voting begins September 8, 2011.

Nominees:

• Intel Corporation - winner
• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Semiconductor Division

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving $500 Million to $10 Billion in Annual Sales)

The industry's Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company ($500 million to $10 billion in annual sales) award is designed to identify the public company garnering the most respect from the industry in terms of its products, vision and future opportunities. The criteria for this award include achieving annual sales between $500 million and $10 billion. In addition, profitability and market capitalization, among other financial and product successes, are considered to be listed on the ballot. On-line voting takes place to allow members of the semiconductor industry, including semiconductor companies and partners, to cast a ballot for the public semiconductor company they most respect.

Nominees:

• Broadcom Corporation - winner
• Qualcomm, Inc.
• Xilinx, Inc.

Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving $100 to $499 Million in Annual Sales)

The industry's Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company award is designed to identify the company garnering the most respect from the industry in terms of its products, vision and future opportunities. The criteria for this award include achieving a minimum of $100 million and a maximum of $499 million in annual sales.  In addition, profitability and market capitalization, among other financial and product successes, are considered to be listed on the ballot. On-line voting takes place to allow members of the semiconductor industry, including semiconductor companies and partners, to cast a ballot for the public semiconductor company they most respect.

Nominees:

• Cavium, Inc.
• NetLogic Microsystems, Inc. - winner
• Silicon Laboratories.

Analyst Favorite Semiconductor Company Award

Semiconductor financial analysts from top-tier firms select their favorite semiconductor company for this award. The analysts base their decision on historical, as well as projected data, such as stock price, earnings per share, revenue forecasts and product performance.

Nominees chosen by analyst C.J. Muse of Barclays Capital include:

• Altera Corporation
• Qualcomm, Inc. - winner

Nominees chosen by analyst Sanjay Devgan of Morgan Stanley include:

• Altera Corporation
• Broadcom Corporation
• Cavium, Inc. - winner

Nominees chosen by analyst Quinn Bolton of Needham & Company include:

• Broadcom Corporation - winner
• RF Micro Devices, Inc.
• Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.

Regional Awards

As a global alliance, GSA introduced an award specifically for the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions. The awards will recognize a semiconductor company headquartered in each respective region that clearly demonstrates the most strength when measuring products, vision, leadership and success in the marketplace. GSA’s APAC and EMEA Leadership Councils will determine the nominees and the winners of their respective regions.

Outstanding Asia Pacific Semiconductor Company Award

Nominees:

• Global Unichip Corporation - winner
• RDA Microelectronics, Inc.

Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company Award

Nominees:

• Dialog Semiconductor - winner
• Sequans Communications