National Semiconductor
The company produced power management integrated circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers, communication interface products and data conversion solutions.Sprague also relied on further financial backing from a pair of West Coast investment firms and a New York underwriter to take control as the chairman of National Semiconductor.Molectro was founded in 1962 in Santa Clara, California, by J. Nall and D. Spittlehouse, who were formerly employed at Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation.In essence, Sporck took four of his personnel from Fairchild with him as well as three others from TI, Perkin-Elmer, and Hewlett-Packard to form a new eight-man team at National Semiconductor.Based largely on the success of the WebPad, National formed the Information Appliance Division (highly integrated processors & "internet gadgets") in 1998.Peter Sprague, Pierre Lamond and the affectionately called Charlie Sporck worked hand-in-hand, with support of the board of directors to transform the company into a multinational and world-class semiconductor concern.Immediately after becoming CEO, Sporck started a historic price war among semiconductor companies, which then trimmed the number of competitors in the field.[10] Cost control, overhead reduction and a focus on profits implemented by Sporck was the key element to National surviving the price war and subsequently in 1981 becoming the first semiconductor company to reach the US$1 billion annual sales mark.However, the foundation that made National successful was its expertise in analog electronics, TTL (transistor–transistor logic) and MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor) integrated circuit technologies.As they had while employed in Fairchild, Sporck and Lamond directed National Semiconductor towards the growing industrial and commercial markets and began to rely less on military and aerospace contracts.Meanwhile, sources of funds associated with Sprague coupled with creative structuring of cash flow buffering due to Sporck and Lamond provided the financing required for that expansion.[13] Robert Swanson's departure in the same year to found Linear Technology was another indication of the appropriateness of organisational strategies of National Semiconductor under Sporck.Amelio found that, just prior to his taking helm, despite having spent US$1 billion over the last five years on research and development, National Semiconductor had a disappointing record in new products.National Semiconductor under Amelio chose to build a brand new eight-inch (200 mm) wafer fabrication plant in South Portland, Maine.National Semiconductor announced the resignation of Amelio as the company's president, chairman and chief executive officer on February 2, 1996.Halla had earlier emphasized that National was after the low-end CPU market as part of the system-on-a-chip pursuit and therefore would not place emphasis on Cyrix's current development of high-end 6x86MX design.[citation needed] The acquisition of an independent-minded Cyrix subsequently turned National Semiconductor from a collaborator into a competitor with Intel.[citation needed] In 1999, National Semiconductor also put out feelers for selling if not the whole, then a majority stake of, its fabrication plant in South Portland, Maine.
PublicSemiconductorsDanbury, ConnecticutTexas InstrumentsSanta Clara, CaliforniaChairman & CEOOperating incomeNet incomeAmericansemiconductor manufactureranalogSanta ClaraCaliforniapower management integrated circuitsdisplay driversoperational amplifiersdata conversionSilicon ValleySperry Rand Corporationventure capitalismFairchild Camera and InstrumentRobert WidlarCharles E. SporckPierre LamondRobert NoyceDelaware corporationFairchild SemiconductorVIA Technologiesimage sensors8250 UARTUART chipsIBM Personal Computeranalog electronicstransistor–transistor logicMOSFETintegrated circuitoffshore outsourcingSequoia CapitalLinear TechnologyGil AmelioRockwell InternationalGeorgia Institute of TechnologySouth Portland, MaineMigdal HaEmekTower SemiconductorApple ComputerIBM Microelectronics DivisionHong KongGreenockScotlandFürstenfeldbruckGermanySingaporeMalaysiaMalaccaPenangBangkokThailandBandungIndonesiaManilaPhilippinesWest JordanSalt Lake CityTucsonArizonaArlington, TexasSchlumbergerSouth PortlandBukit MerahToa PayohPuyallup, WashingtonMatsushita Electric Industrial CompanyMurrysvillePennsylvaniaSuzhou, JiangsuMigdal Ha'Emeqanalog circuitsbufferscomparatorsintegrated circuitsregulatorsvoltage referencesmicrocontrollersnetwork productsNS320xxNE2000Hitachi Data SystemsBob PeaseBob WidlarWidlar current sourceList of LM-series integrated circuitsList of semiconductor fabrication plantsGlobesEE TimesWayback MachineElectronics industry in the United StatesHome appliancesCorsairDolby LaboratoriesElement ElectronicsEmerson RadioHarmanHoneywellInFocusJensen ElectronicsKenmoreKingstonKimballLexmarkLogitechMagnavoxMarantzMemorexMicrosoftMonsterPlantronicsPlanar SystemsSeagateSeiki DigitalSkullcandyTurtle BeachViewSonicWestern DigitalSanDiskWestinghouse Electric Company