Fabless NeoEnergy has also signed up its first foundry partner: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC)

NeoEnergy (Hsinchu) is one of the few analog/mixed-signal chip makers in Taiwan. Richtek Technology Corp. is one of the major analog IC makers in Taiwan.

Still, Taiwan is far behind in analog and mixed-signal, as compared to the United States, said Jackson Hu, chairman and chief executive of NeoEnergy, during a presentation at last week's Analog Semiconductor Leaders' Forum 2009 here. The forum was sponsored by Dongbu HiTek.

In an interview, Hu said that NeoEnergy is a subsidiary of Taiwan's Delta Electronics Inc., a supplier of power supplies. The startup will shortly unveil its first products, but Hu declined to elaborate.

Last year, Hu suddenly resigned as chairman and CEO of Taiwan foundry provider United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC). At the time, UMC announced that Stan Hung was elected to the position of chairman. Shih-Wei Sun was named as CEO.