PMC-Sierra
| Company type | Public (until acquisition) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Predecessor | Sierra Semiconductor, Pacific Microelectronics Centre (PMC) |
| Founded | 1984 in San Jose, California, United States |
| Founder | James Diller |
| Defunct | January 15, 2016 |
| Fate | Acquired by Microsemi Corporation |
| Successor | Microsemi Corporation |
| Headquarters | Sunnyvale, California , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Semiconductor solutions for storage, communications, optical networking, printing, embedded computing |
| Owner | Microsemi Corporation (since 2016) |
| Parent | Microsemi Corporation |
PMC-Sierra operated as a worldwide fabless semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, focusing on the design and sale of semiconductor solutions for markets such as storage, communications, optical networking, printing, and embedded computing.
On January 15, 2016, the acquisition of PMC-Sierra was finalized by Microsemi Corporation through its subsidiary Lois Acquisition.
History
The company originated as Sierra Semiconductor in 1984 in San Jose, California, founded by entrepreneur James Diller. It secured initial investment from Sequoia Capital and went public in 1991.
In 1992, Pacific Microelectronics Centre (PMC) was created as a spin-off from Microtel Pacific Research—the research division of BC TEL located in Burnaby, British Columbia—with a mission to develop networking semiconductors such as ATM and SONET integrated circuits. Backed financially by Sierra Semiconductor, PMC became privately held and was fully acquired by Sierra Semiconductor in 1994. Microtel is affiliated with Verizon Communications.
By 1995, utilizing breakthroughs developed by UBC Electrical Engineering students, PMC made significant progress in the optical networking chipset sector by introducing the first OC-12 (622 Mbit/s) S/UNI transceiver chips, launching three years before similar products from Bell Labs.
In August 1996, Sierra Semiconductor withdrew from the PC modem chipset business to concentrate on networking technologies, leading to workforce reductions of approximately 150 staff members. Later that year, it expanded into the Ethernet sector by acquiring Bipolar Integrated Technology for roughly $10 million. The corporate headquarters relocated to Burnaby, and by June 1997, PMC Sierra surpassed its parent company and rebranded as PMC-Sierra. The company continued growing through acquisitions, including the $55 million purchase of Integrated Telecom Technology Inc. in 1998.
From 2001 through 2015, PMC-Sierra implemented several rounds of layoffs affecting hundreds of employees due to restructuring efforts and evolving market conditions.
To fuel expansion, PMC-Sierra acquired Passave, Inc. in May 2006—a developer specializing in system-on-chip semiconductors for fiber-to-the-home access—in a stock-for-stock transaction valued near $300 million; Passave maintained headquarters in Boston with development centers in Tel Aviv. In October 2010, PMC-Sierra purchased Wintegra Inc. for $240 million, incorporating technology and teams based in Raanana, Israel and Austin, Texas. Further growth occurred in May 2013 with the acquisition of IDT's Enterprise Flash Controller Business.
Towards the end of 2015, PMC-Sierra became the target of acquisition proposals from both Skyworks Solutions and Microsemi. On November 24, 2015, Microsemi declared an agreement to acquire PMC-Sierra and completed the deal by January 2016.
Technology
PMC-Sierra concentrated on broadband communications and storage semiconductor solutions tailored for metro networks, access networks, fiber-to-the-home deployments, wireless infrastructure, enterprise and channel storage systems, laser printers, and customer premises equipment. As a fabless semiconductor firm, PMC handled product design and testing while outsourcing wafer fabrication and assembly processes. Its extensive product lineup included more than 250 semiconductor devices marketed to equipment manufacturers serving communications network operators and enterprise customers.
Prominent clients encompassed HP, EMC, Huawei, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, ZTE, and Juniper.
Storage
PMC-Sierra specialized in storage networking solutions, including interconnects and controllers designed for SAS/SATA storage arrays and server RAID controllers. The company also delivered Fibre Channel controller and system interconnect technologies. Its storage product range broadened through the acquisition of Adaptec’s channel storage division, marketed as "Adaptec by PMC," which manufactured SAS/SATA RAID adapters. In July 2013, PMC finalized the purchase of IDT’s Flash controller segment and subsequently introduced the Flashtec series of non-volatile memory drive controllers in August 2014.
Communications
PMC-Sierra engineered communication integrated circuits targeting metro access, metro transport, FTTH/PON, Ethernet over SONET/SDH, Optical Transport Network (OTN), and wireless base transceiver stations (BTS). The company’s offerings facilitated Ethernet deployment at the network edge via passive optical networks to residential customers. Its semiconductor solutions empowered wireless operators to implement mobile infrastructure, incorporating MIPS-based network processors for wireless backhaul and integrated RFICs supporting wideband radio modules operating between 400 MHz and 4 GHz. The UniTRX chipset family accommodated various standards including MC-GSM, cdma2000®, WCDMA, and LTE.
PMC’s DIGI-G4 chipset stood out as a premier OTN processor enabling 400G line cards within switched metro networks. It was acclaimed as the industry’s most compact single-chip 4x100G OTN processor, achieving a 50% reduction in power consumption per port. In March 2015, the DIGI-G4 earned a Lightwave Innovation Award recognizing its advanced technological features and performance.
Printers
PMC-Sierra provided both discrete components and system-on-chip solutions tailored for laser and multifunction printers, complementing its broad product lineup within the printing sector.