As the global automotive and industrial sectors accelerate toward electrification and intelligence, semiconductors have moved from behind the scenes to center stage, becoming a defining force shaping the performance and user experience of next-generation vehicles. Amid rapid technology shifts and ever-changing market demand, how can semiconductor companies maintain strategic focus while sustaining differentiated innovation?
In a recent C Talk interview hosted by Gasgoo, Hassane El-Khoury, Executive Director, President and CEO of onsemi, together with Dinesh Ramanathan, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy of onsemi, shared their answer: stay focused on the core, respond with agility, collaborate deeply, and tackle multi-dimensional industry challenges through system-level solutions.
onsemi has clearly anchored its strategy around two core technology pillars—intelligent power and intelligent sensing—while concentrating on two primary markets: automotive and industrial. Automotive now contributes more than 50% of the company's revenue, industrial accounts for roughly 25%, and the fast-growing AI data center segment has emerged as an increasingly important part of its business portfolio.
"Our strategic focus is on intelligent power and intelligent sensing—technologies that are driving major trends across multiple key markets," Hassane said at the outset. In power, the company continues to invest heavily in wide-bandgap semiconductors, pushing the limits of power density. As for intelligent sensing, its leading image sensor technologies provide the "eyes" for autonomous driving and industrial automation. Together, these two pillars form the foundation of onsemi's long-term competitiveness.
But leadership in individual technologies is only part of the story. Hassane emphasized that onsemi's real edge lies in the breadth of its product portfolio and its ability to solve highly complex system-level problems. "We may lead in specific product categories, but what truly matters is our capability to address extremely complex system-level challenges." By organically integrating technologies ranging from high-voltage silicon carbide and silicon-based IGBTs to mid-voltage MOSFETs and analog mixed-signal drivers, onsemi delivers compact, high-efficiency, end-to-end power architecture solutions for OEMs. This system-level, customer-centric approach has become a defining differentiator from traditional chip suppliers.
In a market where change has become the norm, both executives agreed that while companies cannot control every disruption, they can stay true to their core strategy. "Standing still and waiting for things to return to the way they were is not an option," Hassane noted. onsemi's response has been to remain firmly committed to intelligent power and intelligent sensing, creating customer value through system-level solutions.
From a strategy making perspective, Dinesh added that the company has established an early-warning and management framework built around "business foundation assumptions." By continuously reassessing shifts in underlying business conditions, onsemi stays alert and flexible amid uncertainty—"neither overreacting nor underreacting, but moving forward steadily and pragmatically."
Within this strategic framework, China occupies a uniquely important position. Hassane said he is deeply impressed by the Chinese automotive industry's "sheer scale of innovation, rapid pace of change, and exceptional speed of execution." To keep up with "China speed" and embed itself in the local innovation ecosystem, onsemi has made localization a firm strategic commitment. "You cannot rely solely on overseas R&D to solve Chinese customers’ problems—this work has to be rooted locally," he said. As a result, the company continues to tailor its global core technologies to China's specific market needs through deep customization and local application development.
That localization commitment is already paying dividends. In intelligent sensing, onsemi has developed an exclusive visual perception solution for Chinese customers that generates a 360-degree "top-down" surround view, significantly enhancing parking safety and convenience. In intelligent power, the company works closely with leading domestic automakers to jointly develop advanced thermal management technologies that improve overall vehicle performance. According to Dinesh, these China-tailored solutions are built on onsemi's deep understanding of the market's unique characteristics and its position at the forefront of innovation. "We must grow together with the China market and mature alongside it," he said.
When discussing breakthroughs in EV power technologies, Hassane pointed to power density as the central metric. "Higher power density means more efficient use of battery energy. It allows automakers to pack larger-capacity batteries into limited installation space, extending driving range and effectively easing range anxiety," he explained. onsemi firmly adheres to a clear technology roadmap: doubling power density every two years. This target directly addresses the EV industry's urgent demand for high-voltage, high-power solutions.
Facing the twin megatrends of software-defined vehicles and artificial intelligence, onsemi has articulated a forward-looking vision that tightly integrates the two. Dinesh noted that by building well-structured hardware–software abstraction layers, standardized and scalable hardware can be flexibly defined and managed through software, meeting automakers' dual requirements for performance and adaptability. In AI, onsemi has embraced an "AI-first" mindset as a core principle, embedding it across everything from operations to product design. Through a dual-track approach that combines internal project development with the adoption of external tools, the company aims to remain both agile and ahead of the curve in AI applications.
Looking ahead, Dinesh sees two parallel trajectories shaping the future of semiconductor technology: continued scaling of silicon-based semiconductors to more advanced process nodes for computing logic, and the growing dominance of compound semiconductors in power electronics. He stressed that the next wave of innovation will center on deep system-level integration of these two domains, enabled by software-driven intelligence, ultimately delivering more compact, efficient, and cost-effective end-to-end solutions for customers.
Amid sweeping industry transformation, onsemi's strategy comes into sharp focus: intelligent power and intelligent sensing as its technological anchors; system-level solutions as its competitive moat; deep localization as its market engine; and close customer collaboration as its source of innovation. By resisting the temptation to chase single trends and instead doubling down on core capabilities while building multi-dimensional advantages, the company is steadily cementing its long-term value as a critical enabler in the automotive industry's profound structural shift.
