June 2015

Interview with Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO Infineon & ESIA President

ESIA: Can you tell us more about yourself and your

role as CEO of Infineon Technologies AG?

R.P.: Maintaining and developing Infineon’s leading

position in its markets is what I consider as my

primary task. Our goal is to grow faster than the

market. In our business approach I stress that we

have to understand what our customers will need in

the future – even if they do not know themselves

today. Thus we provide products that help our

customers to become more successful than their

competition and develop the right technology for

today, tomorrow and beyond. At the same time, I

always have to keep the company alert for the risk

that our next competitor could not be seen in the

rearview mirror, because he is suddenly coming out

of a side street.

Leading people is, of course, an important part of

my job. I try to do this with trust and honest

feedback in both directions. In particular, good

feedback is a worthwhile investment in the future

and helps Infineon to be more successful – as

individuals and as a company.

After six months at the helm of ESIA, Dr. Ploss

reveals his view on the future of the EU

semiconductor industry in the context of today’s

economic, political and societal challenges .

Interview with ESIA President

ESIA: The semiconductor industry is constantly

making things better, faster, smarter, or less

expensive. It leverages technology or improves

processes. In other words, it strives to do more with

less. Can you tell us about a recent project or

solution to a problem that semiconductors made it

better, faster, smarter, more efficient, or less

expensive?

R.P.: A good example is that modern cars are

increasingly equipped with Advanced Driver

Assistance Systems (ADAS). These

comprehensive solutions make driving safer and

smarter already today and will realize the vision of

autonomous driving in near future. With autonomous

individual mobility, time will be given back to people

to be used for a better purpose than paying

attention to traffic, and infrastructure will be used

more efficiently, thus avoiding traffic jams, and

reducing the death toll and injuries from accidents.

Connected and autonomously driving vehicles will

care for smoother traffic which can significantly

reduce exhaust emissions. This evolution would not

be possible without semiconductors and the

technology that allows us to combine them on an

even higher level of system integration.

Beyond this, semiconductors play a crucial role in

the increasing demand for energy efficient

solutions. Just a few days ago, the G7 leaders

have agreed on the need to end our dependence on

fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and

limit global warming. To achieve this, we have to

increase the share of renewable energies in the

entire value chain. Only with semiconductors we can

care for efficiency in generating, transporting and

consuming electric energy. This is a basic

precondition on our way to decarbonize our

economies during this century.

ESIA: The TTIP became a controversial discussion

lately. Can you let us know your opinion on the major

advantages and drawbacks of such a partnership

for the EU industry?

R.P.: Infineon welcomes and supports the efforts of

the European Union to reach an agreement for free

trade and investment protection with the United

States. Once TTIP is signed, it could be a valuable

blue print for future negotiations with other partner

countries.

In addition, I hope that TTIP will help us to further

reduce trade barriers, such as different standards.

Let’s take Infineon’s chip card solutions, for

example. All our products comply with the most

stringent European security standards and are

certified accordingly. But if we want to sell these

products to customers in the USA, we have to certify

them again there under the local standard. This

takes a lot of time and a lot of money. A

harmonization of standards will be

beneficial for both sides. What we should

avoid though is a “race to the bottom”, meaning that

with TTIP we have to agree to any kind of lower

standards. Only with high and reliable standards the

European industry will be able to maintain both the

confidence of its customers and its competitive

advantage. This is particularly true for cyber security

which can be a real creator of value for Europe’s

economy.

Infineon Technologies Headquarters

Munich, Germany

ESIA: In May 2015, the European Commission

unveiled the long-awaited strategy for Digital Single

Market. How do you think the EU industry could reap

the benefits of such an action?

R.P.: Just think of the huge benefits that will come

along with the industrial internet. The real-time

integration of different players along the value chain

has the potential to revolutionize and dramatically

speed up manufacturing processes – by learning

and adapting much faster. For the “Smart

Factory” semiconductors are again important

enablers: Sensors and actuators form the crucial

link that connects the real and the digital world. And

only with hardware-based security solutions for

authentication and data protection we will reach the

required grade of safety that gives confidence to

industry and private users.

There is no doubt that the next industrial revolution

will enable the European industry to develop entirely

new business opportunities. “Industry 4.0“ will only

become reality however, when we setup an

infrastructure and corresponding regulations that

give businesses and consumers better access to

digital goods and services across Europe.

ESIA: How do you see the ESIA changing in the next

years and how do you see yourself, as ESIA

President, creating that change?

R.P.: The semiconductor industry is currently facing

the challenge to develop a better understanding of

its customers systems. Only with stronger efforts to

exchange experiences with our customers and

profound system competence we will keep our

industry successful in the future. Let’s have a look at

the automotive sector again, one of Europe’s

key industries: The ability to develop innovations

in a broad network of value chains is the secret of

success of the European economy. The European

semiconductor industry has to take care to be an

important player in this network even tomorrow.

Therefore, ESIA should also begin to comprehend

with this strategic change approach which we at

Infineon call “product to system”. I am very much

aware that the other ESIA members take a similar

approach. A closer cooperation with relevant

industry associations would be a welcome step

toward this direction and will be fully supported by

me.

Above all, I would like to use my role to emphasize

that the European semiconductor industry can offer

some suitable answers to the most urgent issues of

the world: climate change, population development,

aging societies, urbanization or the increasing

convergence of the real and the digital world, just to

name a few.

Interview with ESIA President