Nelson S. Duann SVP of Client & Automotive Storage Business Unit, Silicon Motion

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation announced a new organizational structure and leadership team appointments to support its continued global business growth. These changes will take effect immediately.

Core to this announcement is the establishment of 2 business units designed to create a more focused and specialized structure that should enable faster innovation and stronger growth and support the company’s commitment to delivering the best-in-class solutions for its customers. The Client & Automotive Storage (CAS) business unit will house the company’s client SSD controllers, mobile controllers, Ferri products and expandable controllers. The Enterprise Storage & Display Interface Solution (ESDI) business unit will encompass the company’s enterprise SSD controllers and display interface products.

As part of the new organizational structure, the firm has created the following leadership roles:

• Nelson S. Duann, currently company’s SVP marketing and R&D, has been appointed as a SVP of the CAS business unit. In this capacity, he will oversee product planning, major OEM business development and OEM project management for the client SSD controllers, mobile controllers, Ferri products and expandable controllers.

• Alex Chou joins as a SVP to lead the ESDI business unit. In this role, he will be responsible for leading enterprise storage group, to expand the business into data center and enterprise storage as well as expand the company’s display interface business into the PC docking market.

• Robert Fan, currently president of Silicon Motion, Inc. (SMI USA), has been promoted to SVP of global sales and president of SMI USA. In this capacity, he will lead the WW sales, field application engineers (FAEs), and corporate marketing communications and PR efforts.

“The increasing adoption of NAND in consumer, industrial, commercial and enterprise applications continue to expand our opportunities for growth,” said Wallace Kou, president and CEO. “By creating these two dedicated business units, we will be even better positioned to develop the most advanced controller technology and deliver industry-leading solutions for our customers. Today, we see a unique opportunity to expand into new markets and increase share in our existing businesses, and with this new structure, we will be able to do so quicker and more effectively to drive our long-term success.”

Nelson Duann has been with Silicon Motion since 2007 and has nearly 25 years of experience in product design, development, and marketing in the semiconductor industry. He was most recently leading firm’s marketing and R&D efforts and has played a key role in leading the OEM business for mobile storage and SSD controller solutions, helping to introduce these products to growing them into the market leaders in these markets today. Prior to that, he worked for Sun Microsystems focusing on UltraSPARC microprocessor projects.

Alex Chou joined Silicon Motion on December 1, 2023. He brings over 30 years industry experience in ASIC design/applications engineering, product marketing, business strategy, and executive-level business engagement. Prior to joining the company, he was SVP at Synaptics, where he was the GM responsible for the growth and success of its wireless connectivity business. Prior to that, he spent more than 18 years at Broadcom, and was responsible for their enterprise networking, WiFi network solutions and client WIFI/BT/GNSS as VP of product marketing at wireless connectivity business unit.

Robert Fan joined Silicon Motion in 2013 and served as the president of SMI USA until 2023. Prior to that, he served in executive management roles at Spansion, IDT, and at 2 VC-backed start-ups. He also spent over 9 years at Intel in sales, marketing and management positions and was a chip designer earlier in his career.