Fifty new vacancies created by FireWire success at Oxford Semiconductor

Following the recent successful launch of its IDE to FireWire bridge chip, the OXFW900, Oxford Semiconductor is looking for 50 new staff at its Abingdon, Oxfordshire, headquarters over the next two years. The new device is expected to increase the company's revenues by £3 million in 2000, and add a further £9 million in 2001. Its success has created vacancies in both hardware and software design, and in sales and marketing.

Business Development Director, James Lewis, commented: "We knew that demand for the FireWire bridge would be strong, but the number of design wins achieved in just a few weeks has been astonishing. It seems that FireWire is establishing itself as the connectivity system of choice on a global basis. We are receiving new enquiries every day from the USA, Europe and Asia. Our problem now is to find staff of the right calibre to develop the product line further and ensure that it continues to be marketed and sold effectively."

FireWire is a feature of the recently announced Playstation 2 from Sony, and this is expected to further drive up demand for compatible peripherals. Oxford Semiconductor was originally an ASIC design company but has developed a number of innovative, high performance connectivity chips as standard products over the last 3 years. This strategy has accelerated the company's growth and, in addition to FireWire connectivity products, the company is to introduce several new PCI bridge chips this year. A fabless operation, Oxford Semiconductor has not followed other UK semiconductor innovators in marketing IP. Instead, it has retained the design knowledge in-house and used it to develop its own product lines.

A new Sales and Marketing Director, James Foster, was recently recruited from Lucent Technologies and there are plans to open overseas offices as part of the drive to rapid globalisation.