Silicon Laboratories in Austin, Texas, is one of many semiconductor companies to see its share price surge in recent months despite the battered economy.
The company’s shares were as low as $68.75 on March 18 and rose to $106.70 on September 2, one day before a slide hit the entire sector. With $837 million in revenue in 2019, the 24-year-old company is not among the biggest of its peers, but is making its mark in the Internet of Things category.
Among a range of products, the company makes silicon devices and software for IoT infrastructure, everything from wearable medical devices for measuring glucose levels to Bluetooth modules that help companies connect lights wirelessly. It specializes in creating chips and modules used by electronics design engineers to solder into circuit boards for use in thousands of products, along with the development kits to help engineers create their new products.
On Wednesday, Silicon Labs expanded its Bluetooth Low Energy portfolio with two new modules to add Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity to products such as medical wearables or common items like handheld power drills. One of the modules, BGM220S, measures just 6 x 6 mm, making one of the smallest System-in-Package devices on the market. The others is BGM220P, about four times larger, which makes it easier to manufacture for some fabs, according to Mikko Savolainen, senior marketing manager for industrial and commercial IoT at Silicon Labs.
He said they both operate under extremely low power, which means they can be used in applications where a small battery can last up to 10 years in some cases. Customers are seeking Bluetooth connectivity that can operate for years on a single coin cell battery to eliminate the maintenance cost of swapping out batteries constantly.
Both modules also support Bluetooth Direction Finding and run on Silicon Labs’ BG22 System-on-Chip, introduced in January. The BG22 has experienced some of the highest product adoption and pipeline growth Silicon Labs has seen, according to a company statement.
Savolainen said the modules are now shipping at an affordable price, which was not disclosed. The modules compete with products from Texas Instruments, Nordic Semiconductor and Dialog, but are distinct because of their small size and low power capabilities, 30% less than other products, he said. Developers will also benefit from using the latest version of Bluetooth via version 5.2.
A previous generation of the module was used in hundreds of thousands of fingertip pulse oximeters shipped by Nonin Medical to healthcare facilities in recent months to help determine COVID-19 exposure in patients. Oximetry devices are used to detect decreases in blood oxygen levels, a sign a person has been infected with the virus.
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