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In an August 2021 EE Times interview, then-onsemi CEO Hassane El-Khoury described “getting focused” as shifting investment and manufacturing capacity toward automotive and industrial markets—not abandoning the company’s existing capabilities. He called it “a transformation, not a turnaround,” and treated cloud and 5G as adjacent opportunities rather than equal priorities. His market forecasts and operating plans were statements made in 2021, not current results.
What was the interview about?
EE Times episode 149, “CEO Interview: Hassane El-Khoury is Getting Onsemi Focused,” was published August 20, 2021. Interviewer Brian Santo spoke with El-Khoury, then president and CEO of onsemi, about changing the company’s strategy and competing in semiconductor growth markets. The episode page includes a transcript: EE Times interview and transcript.
The timing matters: the conversation captured El-Khoury’s early CEO strategy and expectations in 2021. It was not a current earnings call or an update on whether those expectations were later met.
What did “getting focused” mean?
Prioritize automotive and industrial
El-Khoury said automotive and industrial were onsemi’s core markets. In his view, the company had spread itself across too many opportunities and needed to direct more resources toward areas where it believed it could compete. He put it bluntly in the interview: “We don’t dabble.”
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He also acknowledged that calling those markets a priority was not distinctive by itself: “The question is really: Auto and industrial, almost every company Onsemi says auto and industrial.” His argument was that a strategy had to be reflected in execution and resource allocation, not just in the markets named on a presentation.
Treat cloud and 5G as adjacent markets
El-Khoury described cloud and 5G as opportunities for technologies developed for automotive and industrial applications to serve related needs. In the interview, he forecast that automotive and industrial would represent 75% of onsemi’s revenue composition in five years, and said cloud and 5G would grow at an 11% rate over that period. Both figures were his 2021 forecasts; they should not be read as present-day revenue mix or measured growth.
Shift the portfolio without assuming every product line would disappear
The plan he outlined was to change the mix of products and markets the company served. That could mean directing manufacturing capacity away from less strategic product-market combinations, emphasizing what he called value-based products, and allowing some non-core areas to decline. He left open divestment where technologies were not deeply embedded, while also describing reuse of shared wafer capacity as an alternative.
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That distinction is important: a strategic retreat from some markets did not necessarily mean an immediate exit from every product line associated with them. The intended change was in emphasis, investment, and capacity allocation.
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El-Khoury pointed to efficiency across electrification, packaging, and power density. His practical case was that efficient power conversion matters at multiple points in an electric vehicle’s power chain, while compact packaging matters when substantial power has to fit into a vehicle. He said customers he contacted had validated the company’s capabilities.
Those were the CEO’s claims in the interview, not independent performance test results. The conversation does not establish a measured efficiency advantage over competitors or provide a comparative benchmark.
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What manufacturing model did he propose?
El-Khoury said onsemi did not intend to become either fully fabless or fully vertically integrated. He described a “fab lighter” approach: fewer buildings, while increasing capacity and lowering fixed costs. In his account, the company would retain manufacturing capabilities but reshape its footprint and use capacity in line with the markets it chose to prioritize.
These were plans discussed in 2021, not a statement of onsemi’s current factory count, capacity, or cost structure.
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El-Khoury said onsemi had committed to net zero by 2040. He emphasized cutting the company’s own energy and resource consumption, increasing renewable-energy use, and reporting transparently rather than relying mainly on offsets or a marketing claim. He also argued that the company’s products could help customers improve energy efficiency.
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Onsemi’s sustainability-report page now says the Net Zero 2040 goal, in place since 2021, covers Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The company lists renewable-energy goals of 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. It also reports that the Science Based Targets initiative validated its near-term science-based targets in December 2024. Those targets are commitments, not achieved reductions:
- Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse-gas emissions 58.8% by 2034, from a 2022 base year.
- Reduce Scope 3 emissions from fuel- and energy-related activities 35.0% over the same timeframe.
- By 2029, have suppliers responsible for 71.3% of emissions from specified categories commit to science-based targets.
These figures and descriptions are company-reported. See onsemi’s sustainability reports and targets.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How does later company information compare with the 2021 interview?
Later disclosures provide context for the strategy, but they should not be attributed retroactively to El-Khoury’s interview. On August 5, 2021, onsemi announced its new trade name and framed the company around automotive and industrial markets, intelligent power and sensing, vehicle electrification, advanced safety, alternative energy, and factory automation: onsemi’s 2021 brand announcement.
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In 2023, the company described silicon carbide (SiC), silicon power, power ICs, and intelligent sensing as focus areas for automotive and industrial markets. The announcement also included then-current ambitions and targets, which are historical statements rather than proof of present-day performance: onsemi’s 2023 strategy announcement.
Onsemi’s 2025 Sustainability Report reports $4,684 million in triple-bottom-line revenue, or 78% of total revenue. The company defines that category as revenue from products under its intelligent-power-and-sensing umbrella and products it considers to contribute to people, planet, and profit. This is onsemi’s classification, not an independent assessment; it is also not directly comparable to El-Khoury’s 2021 forecast that automotive and industrial would make up 75% of revenue composition in five years.
A later example of commercial activity in automotive power technology is onsemi’s April 28, 2026 announcement that it had expanded its collaboration with Geely Auto Group to integrate onsemi silicon-carbide technology into Geely vehicle platforms: onsemi and Geely’s collaboration announcement. It illustrates continued work in automotive power technology; it does not by itself establish that the interview’s forecasts were achieved.
Why did El-Khoury call it a transformation rather than a turnaround?
He said the company was operating but needed systemic improvement in how it executed strategy. His description combined continuity—with the workforce and brand—with a shift in where the company put money, manufacturing capacity, and management attention. As he put it, “Getting the strategy and talking about it and putting it out there is actually 10% of the effort.” In other words, the test of the strategy he described was whether the organization could carry it through operational decisions.
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