Intersil has achieved its first design wins for the new generation of optical storage devices that will be based on the DVD successor technology BluRay. "We already have design-wins in Asia for the new technology," Susan Hardman, VP of marketing at Intersil, told Electronics Weekly.

BluRay-based storage cannot come too quickly for the semiconductor industry, which has seen the prices of DVD-based end products and chipsets commoditize alarmingly rapidly. The adoption of BluRay-based products could push prices back up.

Hardman is engaged in creating a brand image for Intersil, which, after disposing of its Wi-Fi business and acquiring Xicor, is now a pure-play analog company.

"The challenge is that not many people know who we are," Hardman said. "ADI is known for its A-Ds and D-As, for Linear Technology its power. We have to get across to people the image of Intersil as being a broadline analog supplier."