4 ms·

I must admit I’m not familiar with these companies. Is anyone willing to explain the significance of this merger?

by cpach 6y ago

R0b0t1 6y ago
They focus on slightly different markets. Analog devices produces passives and semiconductors as well as processors and ASICs targeted at data acquisition and digital signal processing as well as power electronics. Maxim tends to produce special purpose devices and processors that are analog front ends with some minor forays into the other areas. There is overlap, but the portfolios are complementary. It seems to be a good acquisition save the sticker price seems too high.
asn0 6y ago
Recent HN post about counterfeiting of Maxim Integrated DS18B20 temperature sensor https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815839
simias 6y ago
I guess they're companies you might not hear a lot about if you don't deal with designing electronics but if you do they're all over the place. You probably have at least a dozen components made by these companies within one meter of you as you're reading this message. If you want practical examples of what they do, go to digikey.com, search for the company names and click randomly on one of the thousands of hits. Here's a microcontroller: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/MAX3088CSA-T/MAX3088CSA-TDKR-ND/1799955 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/M... Here's an I2C temperature sensor: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/MAX31875R2TZS-T/175-MAX31875R2TZS-TTR-ND/11484098 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/M... Here's an RF amplifier: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/MAX2233EEE-T/MAX2233EEE-TCT-ND/5820970 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/M... Here's a 3v3 DC-DC: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/linear-technology-analog-devices/LT1764AEQ-3-3-TRPBF/LT1764AEQ-3-3-TRPBFCT-ND/3830652 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/linear-technology-...
- nickff 6y ago
  I know a lot of people like to search Digikey (or Mouser) for new parts... but please just use the manufacturer website. Digikey doesn't always carry every part, and their categorization is usually a bit messed up. As an aside, AD has a large number of parts which are non-public. You will not find the part numbers (or any information about them) without an NDA and personal assistance from an AD rep.
  - mschuster91 6y ago
    > You will not find the part numbers (or any information about them) without an NDA and personal assistance from an AD rep. As a hobbyist, this sucks so much. With PCB manufacturing reliable enough for high speed signalling being affordable and hackerspaces with soldering ovens in every major cities (and there was some startup - in NYC I believe - that you could give Eagle files and a product order list and they would buy you the components at Digikey and manufacture the board for you... anyone remember their name?!), it really really sucks that all the interesting stuff is hidden beyond such obscure walls. You won't even find Intel Thunderbolt datasheets on obscure Chinese sites. Wtf? And then Intel complains about why people aren't adopting it?
    - nickff 6y ago
      The unlisted AD parts are not ones that you'd be likely to use as a hobbyist. Everything that you're likely to know how to use is public. I wish I could be more specific.
      - mschuster91 6y ago
        Was more of a general rant, sorry if it came across personal :/
      - anticensor 6y ago
        Do those unlisted parts constitute the majority of Analog Devices products?
    - 6y ago
nickff 6y ago
Analog Devices tends towards making specialty integrated circuits, often used in very demanding, high-heat, high-accuracy, high-efficiency applications. Many AD parts are analog interfaces or power-management related, and very expensive, often used in military or space applications. Maxim tends to make a bunch of almost generic odds and ends, are middle-to-low prices, with fairly large volumes. They compete directly against Texas Instruments for a lot of interface products. This acquisition is especially interesting in light of AD's (relatively) recent acquisition of Linear Tech, which was basically a consolidation of the high-performance low-volume integrated circuit market.
segfaultbuserr 6y ago
Chips in hardware is like programming languages and libraries in software, chips make the world turn around. Does your hardware need power? It needs power controller and converter chips, such as a MOSFET driver, a DC-DC converter, a charge pump, a linear regulator, a voltage monitor, or a power multiplexer (if it has multiple power sources). Does it have a battery? It needs a battery charging controller, or a battery gauge. Does it need to communicate via a data interface or a cable? It needs interfacing chips, such as I2C chip, SPI chip, IIO chip, RS-232/RS-485/RS-422 chips, CANbus chipss, LVDS chips, voltage level translation chips, and I/O extending chips. Does it have USB? It may need a USB multiplexer chips to switch between different signal sources (for example, USB Type-C can be an audio port or a data port), or a USB charging controller chip. Does it need wireless communication? It needs RF front-end chips, RF amplifier chips, RF frequency synthesizers, and SoCs for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc. Does it need data acquisition capabilities? It needs ADC chips, DAC chips, amplifier chips, and signal conditioning chips. Does it need NFC/RFID? It needs NFC and RFID chips. Does it have a screen or a LED light, like a screen backlight or a flashlight? It needs LED controller chips and power chips. Does it need any kind of software control? It needs a microcontroller. The list goes on. And Maxim's products cover almost all of these applications. So does Analog Devices' products, but with an emphasize on high-precision, high-performance components.

I must admit I’m not familiar with these companies. Is anyone willing to explain the significance of this merger?

by cpach 6y ago

I must admit I’m not familiar with these companies. Is anyone willing to explain the significance of this merger?

They focus on slightly different markets. Analog devices produces passives and semiconductors as well as processors and ASICs targeted at data acquisition and digital signal processing as well as power electronics. Maxim tends to produce special purpose devices and processors that are analog front ends with some minor forays into the other areas. There is overlap, but the portfolios are complementary. It seems to be a good acquisition save the sticker price seems too high.

asn0 6y ago

Recent HN post about counterfeiting of Maxim Integrated DS18B20 temperature sensor https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815839

simias 6y ago

I guess they're companies you might not hear a lot about if you don't deal with designing electronics but if you do they're all over the place. You probably have at least a dozen components made by these companies within one meter of you as you're reading this message. If you want practical examples of what they do, go to digikey.com, search for the company names and click randomly on one of the thousands of hits. Here's a microcontroller: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/MAX3088CSA-T/MAX3088CSA-TDKR-ND/1799955 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/M... Here's an I2C temperature sensor: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/MAX31875R2TZS-T/175-MAX31875R2TZS-TTR-ND/11484098 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/M... Here's an RF amplifier: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/MAX2233EEE-T/MAX2233EEE-TCT-ND/5820970 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/maxim-integrated/M... Here's a 3v3 DC-DC: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/linear-technology-analog-devices/LT1764AEQ-3-3-TRPBF/LT1764AEQ-3-3-TRPBFCT-ND/3830652 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/linear-technology-...

nickff 6y ago
I know a lot of people like to search Digikey (or Mouser) for new parts... but please just use the manufacturer website. Digikey doesn't always carry every part, and their categorization is usually a bit messed up. As an aside, AD has a large number of parts which are non-public. You will not find the part numbers (or any information about them) without an NDA and personal assistance from an AD rep.
- mschuster91 6y ago
  > You will not find the part numbers (or any information about them) without an NDA and personal assistance from an AD rep. As a hobbyist, this sucks so much. With PCB manufacturing reliable enough for high speed signalling being affordable and hackerspaces with soldering ovens in every major cities (and there was some startup - in NYC I believe - that you could give Eagle files and a product order list and they would buy you the components at Digikey and manufacture the board for you... anyone remember their name?!), it really really sucks that all the interesting stuff is hidden beyond such obscure walls. You won't even find Intel Thunderbolt datasheets on obscure Chinese sites. Wtf? And then Intel complains about why people aren't adopting it?
  - nickff 6y ago
    The unlisted AD parts are not ones that you'd be likely to use as a hobbyist. Everything that you're likely to know how to use is public. I wish I could be more specific.
    - mschuster91 6y ago
      Was more of a general rant, sorry if it came across personal :/
    - anticensor 6y ago
      Do those unlisted parts constitute the majority of Analog Devices products?
  - 6y ago

nickff 6y ago

Analog Devices tends towards making specialty integrated circuits, often used in very demanding, high-heat, high-accuracy, high-efficiency applications. Many AD parts are analog interfaces or power-management related, and very expensive, often used in military or space applications. Maxim tends to make a bunch of almost generic odds and ends, are middle-to-low prices, with fairly large volumes. They compete directly against Texas Instruments for a lot of interface products. This acquisition is especially interesting in light of AD's (relatively) recent acquisition of Linear Tech, which was basically a consolidation of the high-performance low-volume integrated circuit market.

segfaultbuserr 6y ago

Chips in hardware is like programming languages and libraries in software, chips make the world turn around. Does your hardware need power? It needs power controller and converter chips, such as a MOSFET driver, a DC-DC converter, a charge pump, a linear regulator, a voltage monitor, or a power multiplexer (if it has multiple power sources). Does it have a battery? It needs a battery charging controller, or a battery gauge. Does it need to communicate via a data interface or a cable? It needs interfacing chips, such as I2C chip, SPI chip, IIO chip, RS-232/RS-485/RS-422 chips, CANbus chipss, LVDS chips, voltage level translation chips, and I/O extending chips. Does it have USB? It may need a USB multiplexer chips to switch between different signal sources (for example, USB Type-C can be an audio port or a data port), or a USB charging controller chip. Does it need wireless communication? It needs RF front-end chips, RF amplifier chips, RF frequency synthesizers, and SoCs for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc. Does it need data acquisition capabilities? It needs ADC chips, DAC chips, amplifier chips, and signal conditioning chips. Does it need NFC/RFID? It needs NFC and RFID chips. Does it have a screen or a LED light, like a screen backlight or a flashlight? It needs LED controller chips and power chips. Does it need any kind of software control? It needs a microcontroller. The list goes on. And Maxim's products cover almost all of these applications. So does Analog Devices' products, but with an emphasize on high-precision, high-performance components.