Signetics

Signetics

Signetics, once a major player in semiconductor manufacturing, made a variety of devices which included integrated circuits, bipolar and MOS, the Dolby circuit, logic, memory and analog circuits and Motorola clone CPUs, some of which were included in the first Atari video games.

Signetics was started in 1961 by a group of engineers -- David Allison, David James, Lionel Kattner, and Mark Weissenstern -- who left Fairchild Semiconductor. At the time, Fairchild was concentrating on its component business (mostly transistors), and its management felt that by making integrated circuits (ICs) it would alienate its customers.

Signetics founders believed that ICs were the future of electronics (much like another contemporary Fairchild spinoff, Amelco,) and wished to commercialize them. The name came from SIGnal NETwork Integrated Circuits, similar to how the name Intel was created.

The venture was financed by a group organized through Lehman Brothers, who invested $1M. The initial idea was to design and manufacture ICs for specific customers. In order to facilitate this goal, Signetics did not have a separate R&D lab; instead, the engineering was all done in technical development department, and was closely tied to marketing.

Signetics first developed a series of standard DTL ICs, which it announced in 1962. However, it was struggling to sell custom-made circuits, which was the original goal, and was quickly exhausting the initial investment money, and new investors had to be found. In November 1962, Corning Glass invested another $1.7M in Signetics, in exchange for 51% ownership. This money enabled Signetics to survive, and much of it was put into a marketing and sales campaign.

In 1963, the Department of Defense made a decision to begin a shift towards microelectronics and ICs, due to their small size, higher reliability, and lower power consumption. As a result, military contractors began to explore the field, and as Signetics was one of the few firms selling custom circuits, it benefited greatly.

In the fall of 1963 and throughout most of 1964, sales grew quickly, and the company finally became profitable. Signetics also grew rapidly, hiring more engineers and increasing its manufacturing space. In 1964, Signetics opened a large new manufacturing plant in Sunnyvale, California. At this time it was by far the largest manufacturer of ICs in Silicon Valley. It later expanded also to factories in Orem, Utah and Albuquerque, New Mexico where there were two fabs, FAB22(4") and FAB23(6").

In 1964, Fairchild began to push its way into the IC business. Signetics's circuits being the standard in the market, Fairchild decided to copy them. However, it used its superior cash position, marketing power, and manufacturing strength to undercut Signetics by slashing prices and flooding the market. Signetics was struggling to compete, and began losing money again. Corning saw this as proof of poor management, and used its controlling interest to drive out most of the founders and take complete control of the company.

Signetics managed to stabilize and become profitable again, but it never regained its market leadership, which was firmly held by Fairchild. It continued to innovate in the IC technology, and remained a significant force. Around 1971, the "Signetics Corporation" introduced the 555 timer IC. It was called "The IC Time Machine". It was also the first and only commercial IC timer available at the time. In the United States, Signetics reached its manufacturing height at around 1980. From then on the Signetics brand slowly disintegrated in the face of competition from AMD and Intel.

In Korea, "Signetics began IC assembly and test operations in Korea in 1966 as part of Signetics Corporation. It was acquired by Philips Semiconductor in 1975, and became an independent subcontract service provider in 1995. Young Poong Corporation acquired Signetics in 2000 as a major shareholder." (from the Signetics website, Jan. 2006)

See also

* Write Only Memory

References

* Lécuyer, C. "Making Silicon Valley: Innovation and the Growth of High Tech, 1930-1970", MIT Press, 2006. ISBN 0-262-12281-2

External links

* [http://www.signetics.com/ www.signetics.com]
* [http://amigan.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ Signetics 2650/2636/2637 resources]
* [http://www.chipdb.org/cat-signetics-1023.htm Signetics at chipdb.org]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Signetics — Signetics, es una de las mayores empresas del mundo dedicada a la creación de semiconductores. Fabrica una importante variedad de dispositivos, incluyendo circuitos integrados, transistores, circuitos Dolby, memorias y circuitos analógicos, CPUs …   Wikipedia Español

  • Signetics — est un fabricant de circuits intégrés majeur des années 1960 1970. Elle a été à l origine de nombreux circuits intégrés, bipolaires et MOS, le populaire NE555(LM555), circuits Dolby, logique, mémoire, circuits analogiques, clones de processeurs… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Signetics — Mikroprozessor Signetics 2650AN Spielkonsole mit 2650A Prozessor: Arc …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Signetics 2650 — Центральный процессор Микропроцессор Signetics 2650 Производство …   Википедия

  • Signetics 2650 — The Signetics 2650, was a very early (1975) 8 bit microprocessor. According to Adam Osborne s classic book An Introduction to Microprocessors Vol 2: Some Real Products , it was the most minicomputer like of the microprocessors available at the… …   Wikipedia

  • 8X300 — Signetics N8X300. Signetics N8X305 …   Wikipedia Español

  • NE555 — Der NE555 (oft kurz 555 genannt) ist ein integrierter Schaltkreis (IC) für Timer oder Oszillator Schaltungen. Ein Anwendungsbeispiel für die Timerfunktion ist ein Treppenlichtautomat, der das Licht auf Tastendruck einmalig ein und nach einer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Write-only memory — is the antithesis of read only memory (ROM). By definition, a WOM is a memory device which can be written but never read. Since there seems to be no obvious utility for such a memory circuit, from which data cannot be retrieved, the concept is… …   Wikipedia

  • Grundig Superplay Computer 4000 — Interton VC4000 Hersteller Interton Typ Stationäre Spielkonsole Generation 2. Generation (8 Bit)  Veröffentlichung 1978 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • VC4000 — Interton VC4000 Hersteller Interton Typ Stationäre Spielkonsole Generation 2. Generation (8 Bit)  Veröffentlichung 1978 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”