FTDI

Future Technology Devices International, commonly known by its initialization, FTDI, is a Scottish privately traded semiconductor device company, specializing in Universal Serial Bus technology. It develops, manufactures, and supports devices and their related software drivers for converting RS-232 or TTL serial transmissions to USB signals, in order to allow support for legacy devices with modern computers.

It also provides application-specific integrated circuit design services. The company's flagship product is its "FTDI Chip", an integrated circuit which is a common component on electronic devices using microcontrollers, such as the Arduino physical computing platform. It also provides consultancy services for product design, specifically the realm of electronic devices.

FTDI's headquarters are in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, while it also has offices in Taipei, Taiwan and Portland, Oregon, United States. The company's manufacturing division is handled by subcontractors in the Asia Pacific region.

The company sells its products to consumers on its website, but also sells in volume to retailers.

History

FTDI was founded on 13 March, 1992, by its current CEO Fred Dart, having been an in-direct descendant of a former semiconductor techonology startup founded by Dart, Computer Design Concepts Ltd.

FTDI's initial products were chipsets for personal computer motherboards, the primary customer of which was IBM, who used them in its AMBRA and PS/1 personal computers.

External links

* [http://www.ftdichip.com FTDI website]