Profile: Synaptics Incorporated (SYNA.O)

Synaptics Incorporated is a worldwide developer and supplier of custom-designed user interface solutions that enable people to interact and intuitively with a variety of mobile computing, communications, entertainment and other electronic devices. The Company targets the personal computer (PC) market and the market for digital lifestyle products, including mobile smartphones and feature phones, portable digital music and video players, and other select electronic device markets with its customized human interface solutions. Its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers include tier one PC OEMs. The Company supplies custom designed human interface solutions to its OEM customers through their contract manufacturers. Through its OneTouch offering, the Company enable its customers to access the technologies to develop their own human interface designs for capacitive button and scrolling applications for products, such as mobile smartphones and feature phones, portable digital music and video players, and notebook peripherals.

The Company provides custom interface solutions for navigation, cursor control and multimedia controls for the PC OEMs. In addition to notebooks, other PC applications for its technology include peripherals, such as keyboards, mice and monitors, as well as desktop and PC remote control applications. The Company’s solutions for the PC market include the TouchPad, TouchStyk and dual pointing solutions. The Company’s customers include Acer, Asustek, Dell, Google, Hewlett-Packard, HTC, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba.

TouchPad

The Company's TouchPad is a small, touch-sensitive pad that senses the position of a person's finger on its surface through the measurement of capacitance. Its TouchPad provides a method for screen navigation and cursor movement, and provides a platform for interactive input. The Company’s TouchPad solutions offer various features, including linear scrolling, customizable tap zones, EdgeMotion, tapping and dragging of icons, and multi-finger gestures. Linear scrolling feature enables the user to scroll through any document by swiping a finger along the side or bottom of the TouchPad. Customizable tap zones permit designated portions of the TouchPad to be used to simulate mouse clicks, launch applications, and perform other selected functions.

EdgeMotion permits cursor movement to continue when a user's finger reaches the edge of the TouchPad. Tapping and dragging of icons allow the user to tap and hold on an icon in order to drag it, rather than being forced to hold a button down in order to drag an icon. Multi-finger gestures allow the user to designate specific actions when more than one finger is used on the TouchPad, including pinch, momentum, ChiralMotion, three finger flick, two finger scrolling, three fingers down, and PivotRotate. Its TouchPad solutions are available in a variety of sizes, electrical interfaces and thickness.

TouchStyk

The Company's TouchStyk is a pointing stick interface solution. TouchStyk is a self-contained, integrated module that uses similar capacitive technology as its TouchPad. TouchStyk is enabled with press-to-select and tap-to-click capabilities and can be integrated into multiple computing and communications devices. The Company is shipping its TouchStyk in notebooks, portable multimedia players and ultra mobile personal computers.

Dual Pointing Solutions

The Company's dual pointing solutions offer a TouchPad with a pointing stick in a single notebook computer, enabling users to select their interface of choice. Its dual pointing solution also provides the end user the ability to use both interfaces interchangeably. The Company has developed two solutions for use in the dual pointing market. Its first solution integrates all the electronics for controlling a third-party resistive strain gauge pointing stick onto its TouchPad PCB. The Company's second dual pointing solution uses its TouchStyk rather than a third-party pointing stick, and offers the same OEM integration. The second solution allows OEMs to offer TouchPad-only, TouchStyk-only, or dual pointing solutions on a build-to-order basis.

NavPoint

The NavPoint solution offers users functionality and versatility in accessing and managing content in handheld devices through navigation controls, including short and long-distance scrolling features and tapping. It also includes mouse-like cursor navigation.

TouchButtons

TouchButtons provides capacitive button and scrolling controls for interface solution that replaces mechanical buttons. Button arrays and ScrollStrips can be programmed to perform various functions, such as controls for multimedia, displays and device settings in notebook PCs, multimedia keyboards, moving picture experts group layer-3 audio (MP3) players, digital photo frames, monitors, and other digital lifestyle products. OEMs can incorporate TouchButtons into their products by designing their own button or scrolling, or combination of button and scrolling interface using the OneTouch offering or though its interface module.

ClearPad

ClearPad consists of a transparent, thin capacitive touchscreen that can be placed over any viewable surface, including display modules, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or organic light-emitting device (OLEDs). ClearPad can be mounted on or under curved surfaces, providing for sleek industrial designs. ClearPad enables the user to interact directly with the display on electronic devices, such as mobile smartphones and feature phones.

ClearButtons

ClearButtons is an extension of its core capacitive sensing technology that has been used in TouchPad solutions for notebook PCs, smartphones and feature phones. ClearButtons is a clear sensor that can be mounted under plastic, providing OEMs with easy integration and attractive design options for scrolling and buttons.

Synaptics OneTouch Design Studio

OneTouch is a solution based on the Company’s capacitive sensing technology. It includes a capacitive sensing application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), design tools, documentation, and technical support, that enables customers to develop their own custom interface designs in-house for capacitive buttons and scrolling applications in various products, including mobile smartphones and feature phones, portable digital media players, and PC peripherals, such as monitors, keyboards, mice and remote controls.

The Company competes with Alps Electric, Elan Microelectronics, Cypress, Atmel, Melfas and Elan.