``They've been through multiple down cycles and have strong, wide relationships with both customers and suppliers,'' Analysts praise Waite's ability to form partnerships with customers, giving Chartered access to proprietary chipmaking technologies. Under Waite, Chartered's technology tie-ups include companies such as Motorola and Ericsson, two of the three biggest cell phone makers, as well as Agere Systems Inc, Lucent Technologies Inc's semiconductor unit.
In August, Waite expanded a US$1 billion joint venture plant in Singapore with Agere into a US$700 million partnership to develop chips for high-speed Internet and handheld devices.
``It's very easy to set up a commercial relationship with a manufacturer but not necessarily call it a partnership,'' Agere Chief Executive John Dickson said at the time. "The only way the industry would be successful is to develop such partnerships."
The link between Waite and Dickson stretches back to the University of Sheffield in the UK, where they were both students. They later sat next to each other as employees of Texas Instruments Inc, the biggest maker of wireless-phone chips, where Waite worked for 12 years to 1982 before joining Motorola.
Other relationships are built over time with late dinners and weekend visits. Dwight Decker, chief executive of Conexant Systems Inc, the largest maker of chips for dial-up modems, says Waite sees or speaks to him at least 10 times each year, more than most suppliers.
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