ViXS Systems, the Toronto-based maker of video processing and MoCA chips,has named Sohail Khan to president and CEO.
The appointment of Khan fills a big void at ViXS, which lost interim president and CEO Hugh Chow in May. Chow came in to take on the duties of Sally Daub, the ViXS co-founder who resigned in February.
Khan most recently was president and CEO of Lilliputian Systems, an early-stage spinout from MIT, and is currently on the board of Intersil Corp. and Lightpath Technologies.
He previously was president and CEO of SiGe Semiconductor, a private fabless semiconductor acquired by Skyworks Solutions in 2011. Khan also helped with the spinout and IPO of Agere Systems, another chipmaker, from Lucent Technologies. Khan had served as president of the integrated circuits unit of Lucent Technologies Microelectronics (an AT&T spinout).
Khan has a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley.
"The Board of Directors is delighted with the appointment of Mr. Khan. He is a seasoned semiconductor executive with a deep understanding of the capital markets and has a proven track record of financial and operational execution. We have the utmost confidence that Sohail is the leader to drive the monetization and commercialization of ViXS' technology," said Peter Currie, chairman of ViXS, in a statement.
“My goal is clear, to commercialize ViXS` technology and deliver improved execution and financial performance, creating value for all stakeholders," Khan added.
Khan comes on board as ViXS struggles. It posted Q2 revenues of $6 million, down from $8.9 million in the year-ago period, mainly due to lower XCode 6400 sales as first generation Ultra HD TV companion designs came to an end (the 6400 is an SoC with native support for 10-bit HEVC and UHD/4K video), paired with lower sales of legacy products. Those numbers were partially offset by higher MoCA sales.
