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Skyworks Solutions

Skyworks Solutions – A Wireless Semiconductor Solutions Specialist.

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Skyworks Solutions is an American company driving the wireless communication revolution. A member of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 market indices, is a multinational corporation with engineering, operations, marketing, sales, and support facilities spread across Europe, North America, and Asia. It is the biggest company in the world that specializes in wireless semiconductor solutions.

About The Company

Skyworks Solutions has its main office in California. It produces semiconductors for usage in radio frequency (RF) and cellular communications networks. Power amplifiers, front-end modules, and RF solutions for mobile devices and wireless network infrastructure are some of the company’s products.

Skyworks Solutions
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In a variety of new and previously unforeseen applications in aviation, automobiles, cellular infrastructure, broadband, connected home, healthcare, industrial, military, smartphone, tablet, and wearable markets, the company’s highly innovative analog semiconductors are tying together individuals, locations, and things. It provides optimized solutions for mobile network applications, ranging from fundamental parts and interconnected RF modules to full system platforms.

History

On June 26, 2002, Alpha Industries and Conexant’s wireless communications segment merged, resulting in the creation of a new company named Skyworks Solutions. It is based in Irvine, California, and has production operations there as well as in Woburn, Mexicali, and Newbury Park, California.

The company has design centers in Irvine, Santa Rosa, Newbury Park, Woburn, Greensboro, Cedar Rapids, and Ottawa, among other cities. The corporation has design, engineering, production, marketing, sales, and service facilities spread across Europe, Asia, and North America. The setting for the “Such Great Heights” music video by The Postal Service is Skyworks’s chip production facility in Newbury Park.

In 2015, Skyworks Solutions and PMC-Sierra entered a binding agreement under which Skyworks Solutions was supposed to acquire the company. However, after Microsemi outbid Skyworks Solutions, the contract was terminated.

In 2021, Skyworks Solutions and Silicon Labs reached a binding deal for Skyworks Solutions to pay $2.75 billion for Silicon Labs’ Infra & Automotive division. In order to improve its international Research and Innovation activities, its Cellular System Business Unit established its Indian subsidiary in 2003.

In just two years, the design centers in India (Hyderabad and Noida) have made a significant impact on our present and future products by developing, designing, and testing systems and software solutions for wireless handset devices. In 2021, Skyworks Solutions generated a revenue of over 5.11$ billion.

Products

A few of the products offered by this company are modulators, mixers, optocouplers, phase shifters, optoisolators, PLLs/VCOs/synthesizers power combiners/dividers, power regulation gadgets, receivers, switches, and technical ceramics. The company also offers amplifiers, circulators, attenuators, front-end modules, demodulators, diodes, detectors, directional couplers, hybrids, and infrastructure RF subsystems.

Founder and CEO – Liam Griffin

Liam K. Griffin is the founder, president, chairman, and CEO of Skyworks Solutions. He had held the positions of CEO, Director, and President since May 2016 before being appointed as the chairman of the board in 2021. He oversaw all of Skyworks Solutions’ business segments while serving as executive VP and corporate general manager from 2012 to 2014.

He served as the vice president of global sales at Vectron International, before joining Skyworks Solutions. He has completed his bachelor’s from the University of Massachusetts and also holds an MBA degree from Boston University.

He presently sits on the executive committee of the CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County as well as the board of National Instruments, a provider of software-defined systems for automated measurement and testing systems. Previously, Mr. Griffin was a member of Vicor Corps board.

Monolithic Power Systems

Monolithic Power Systems (MPS): A Preeminent Global Semiconductor Company.

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Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) offers power circuits for systems used in telecom infrastructures, cloud computing, automobiles, industrial uses, and consumer devices. The goal of MPS is to help clients use less energy overall by providing them with efficient, useful, and small-footprint solutions.

About The Company

Monolithic Power Systems, is a publicly traded American corporation. It operates in over 15 different countries throughout the world. Monolithic Power Systems(MPS) offers compact, incredibly energy-efficient, and simple-to-use power solutions for systems used in industrial uses, telecom facilities, cloud computing, automobiles, and consumer devices. The main office of Monolithic Power Systems is in Kirkland, Washington, and the company also has production facilities in California and Taiwan. The business creates, develops, and markets products for the automobile, industrial, consumer, computing, and storage industries. Monolithic Power Systems sells its goods through value-added resellers and independent distributors. In China, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the USA, it directly sells to original equipment producers, original design producers, and companies that provide services for electronic manufacturing. Monolithic Power Systems (MPS), a preeminent global semiconductor company, develops cutting-edge technologies that are simple to use and environmentally friendly to enhance the quality of life.

Monolithic Power Systems
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History

Michael Hsing, who is now the CEO, established Monolithic Power Systems, in 1997. Hsing served as a Senior Silicon Technology Developer at many analog integrated circuit firms before the company was founded. He is credited as an inventor of various patents pertaining to the advancement of manufacturing processes for bipolar mixed-signal semiconductors. After that, the business expanded into DC/DC products. Hsing floated the business in an initial public offering in November 2004. Since that time, the business has expanded to include six product lines and more than 1,000 goods. The company was included in the S&P 500 in 2021. A female board member was recently appointed by Monolithic Power Systems. In 2021, the company had a revenue of over 1.21$ billion.

Products

Monolithic Power Systems offers integral circuits for digital, analog, and mixed signals. It provides DC to DC converter integrated circuits (ICs) that are used to change and regulate the voltages of a variety of electronic systems, including electronics, WLAN access points, computers, set-top boxes, displays, vehicles, and medical equipment. Additionally, the business sells lighting control integrated circuits (ICs) for backlighting, that are utilized in systems that supply the source of light for LCD panels in laptops, LCD monitors, automotive GPS technologies, and LCD televisions. Monolithic Power Systems additionally produces class D audio amplifiers. The applications and systems experience at MPS is the result of a team of seasoned business professionals who combine deep expertise in electronics, IC-level technical skills, and a wealth of client application knowledge. This enables the business to effectively support its applications, accelerate time to market, and collaborate directly with customers to develop new product prospects.

Founder And CEO – Michael R. Hsing

Michael Hsing is the founder and CEO of Monolithic Power Systems. MPS was founded on a vision. Monolithic Power Systems was established in 1997 by engineer and innovator Michael Hsing on the premise that a whole power system could be built onto a single chip. A monolithic power unit that really integrates a full power system into a single package has been developed by MPS under his direction, and the company has continued to surpass industry standards with its patented cutting-edge technology. Previously Hsing has held senior technical positions at organizations like Micrel, and Supertex. Since 2010, Hsing has also served as the company’s chairman. He has also served as the company’s Director since 1997. Hsing graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S.E.E.

KLA corporation

KLA Corporation, A Company Promoting Innovation In The Semiconductor Industry.

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KLA corporation creates market-leading products and services that promote innovation in the electronics sector. The company offers cutting-edge process enabling and process controlling technologies.

About The Company

Headquartered in Milpitas, California, KLA Corporation is a business that manufactures capital equipment. It provides yield management and process control systems to the semiconductor and other similar nano-electronic sectors. All stages of the reticle, wafer, integrated circuit (IC), and packaging manufacturing, from research and innovation to final volume manufacturing, are targeted by the company’s services and products. In order to increase production yields for a variety of conventional and custom semiconductors, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and flat panel displays, KLA produces a number of specialized diagnostic tools, metrology devices, and predictive analytics software. Its products are divided into three categories: PCB, Display, and Component Inspection, Specialty Semiconductor Process, and Semiconductor Process Control.

KLA corporation
Image Source: wsj.net

History

KLA Instruments and Tencor Instruments, two firms in the semiconductors machinery and yield management systems sector, merged to establish KLA-Tencor in 1997. The goal of the merger was to provide a single supplier for chip processing and diagnostics equipment. Ken Levy and Bob Anderson established KLA Instruments in 1975 with an emphasis on photomask recognition to spot chip flaws. Later, KLA diversified its product range to also include wafer metrology, unified examination and analysis software, and wafer inspection. Tencor was established in 1976 by American-born chemist Karel Urbanek and a collaborator named John Schwabacher. In 1984, the company developed laser-scanning technology to locate particles and other sorts of contamination after initially focusing on precisely measuring the thickness of semiconductor film layers. In 1998, KLA-Tencor acquired various companies like Freiburg, Amray Inc., Bedford, VARS, Quantox, Keithley Instruments, and Ultrapointe. In 2018, Orbotech, an Israeli company that sells automated optical inspection equipment, was acquired by KLA-Tencor for about $3.4 billion. In 2019, KLA-Tencor changed its name to KLA Corporation. In 2019, KLA made plans to establish a second US office in Michigan. The building was slated to open in the summer of 2021 and would house 500–600 new employees, around half of whom would be engineers. According to reports, the facility would encourage collaborations with the automotive industry and have a tie with the University of Michigan.

Controversy

KLA settled claims that the business and a few executives had improperly backdated share options grants in January 2008 by paying $65 million. The SEC claims that KLA dramatically inflated its disclosed financial results in this controversy, trying to deprive shareholders of accurate info about the corporation’s compensation costs and fiscal performance. SEC said that it was particularly troubling for a listed corporation to participate in such improper conduct even after being warned that these practices were illegal.

Founder – Kenneth Levy

Kenneth Levy has been involved with the semiconductors machinery and equipment sector for more than 30 years and currently holds the position of chairman of the board of KLA-Tencor Corporation. Levy was a co-founder of KLA Instruments, which merged with Tencor to establish KLA-Tencor in 1997.

CEO – Rick Wallace

Rick Wallace is the CEO and President of KLA Corporation. In 1998, he joined KLA Instruments as an application engineer and has worked there for more than 30 years, holding a variety of general management responsibilities. He worked for Cypress Semiconductor and Ultratech Stepper earlier in his career. In the past, Mr. Wallace held various positions on the SEMI Board of Directors, including Chairman of the Board. Mr. Wallace obtained his electrical engineering bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and his engineering management master’s degree from Santa Clara University.

Fairchild Semiconductor

Fairchild Semiconductor – Semiconductor Industry Pioneer.

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Fairchild Semiconductor is currently a part of ON Semiconductor and has a long history of being a semiconductor industry pioneer. The company specialises in researching and manufacturing a full range of low to high-power technologies for the cellular, industrial, automotive, cloud, lighting, and computer industries.

About The Company

American semiconductor manufacturer Fairchild Semiconductor has its headquarters in California. It was a pioneer in producing transistors and integrated circuits after being established in 1957 as a Fairchild Camera and Instrument unit. Schlumberger acquired the business in 1979 and subsequently sold it to National Semiconductor. Fairchild was once more spun off as a separate company in 1997. In 2016, the company was purchased by ON Semiconductor.

Fairchild Semiconductor
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History

Fairchild Semiconductor International was established in 1957 as one of the first companies to develop integrated circuits and transistors effectively. Its research and production centres were spread across the United States and Asia. When eight engineers from the California-based Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory collectively left in 1957 over founder and transistor inventor William Shockley’s management style, Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation considered going into the semiconductor market. The group, known by Shockley as the “traitorous eight,” introduced themselves to Fairchild under the leadership of Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce. As a stake in the project, each of these eight engineers agreed to invest $500 of his own money. Each of the eight received $250,000 when they subsequently sold their holdings to Fairchild. The company’s first product was silicon-based transistors for military and industrial applications. Jean Hoerni, an engineer, realised that the product contamination could be lessened by putting a silicon-oxide coating. Noyce advanced Hoerni’s progress. Noyce developed the process for creating an integrated circuit. Although Fairchild submitted a patent application for this planar technique in 1959, the firms fought in the courts until a split ruling was reached ten years later. During this time, Fairchild cross-licensed the integrated circuit patents with the co-inventor Texas Instruments.

In contrast to Texas Instruments, Robert Noyce did not employ military money to create the business’s original manufacturing processes. At the cost of $120 per chip, Fairchild introduced the integrated circuit (IC) to the market in 1961. But at that time, any electronics company could build identical circuits for much less money by wiring high-end transistors together. For a customer to purchase ICs, there had to be a severe space restriction. Interestingly for Fairchild, the IC provided a solution to a similar issue that the American space programme faced. Around one million silicon chips had been acquired by the Apollo programme alone by 1969, with a sizable portion coming from Fairchild.

Acquisition

When Noyce and Moore left Fairchild Semiconductor in 1968 to establish Intel Corporation, dozens of new electronics businesses, such as Advanced Micro Devices, National Semiconductor Corporation, and LSI Logic Corporation, had already been established in the area, which is now referred to as Silicon Valley. Fairchild-related businesses were commonly called Fairchildren. By the late 1970s, Fairchild had lost its ability to rival the Fairchildren. The company and its former name were acquired by Schlumberger Limited in 1979, a French business best recognised for providing services and equipment to the oil industry. After less than ten years, Schlumberger tried to sell the company to the Japanese company Fujitsu Limited. After the USA government blocked the transaction, National Semiconductor bought Fairchild in 1987 but failed to make a profit from it either. Fairchild was separated from National in 1996 and established as a separate company with its headquarters in South Portland, Maine, where it had been running the semiconductor fabrication facility with the longest continuous operation in the world. Additionally, Fairchild produced integrated circuits(IC) for consumer technology in South Korea, Utah, and California, with facilities for assembly and testing in Malaysia and the Philippines. ON Semiconductor purchased Fairchild in 2016.

Founder – Sherman Fairchild, Arthur Rock

Sherman Fairchild, the founder of the Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation, was approached by Arthur Rock. He convinced Fairchild to recruit the team, known as “The Traitorous Eight”, and allow them to establish Fairchild Semiconductor. The group received a $1.5 million start-up loan from Fairchild.

CEO – Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson has served as the CEO and President of Fairchild since 2005 after joining the company in 2004 as EVP of its technology and manufacturing division. Previously served as the CEO of Big Bear Networks, vice president and general manager of Tyco Electronics’ power components division, and Raychem Electronics OEM vice president.

Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor – Company Established From Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector.

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Freescale Semiconductor offers embedded processing solutions by combining embedded CPUs, complementing semiconductor devices, and software. Its operations are structured around five main product categories: RF, Automotive MCUs, Analog and Sensors, Digital Networking, and Microcontrollers.

About The Company

Freescale Semiconductor was an American company in the business of semiconductor manufacturing. It was established as a result of Motorola‘s 2004 sale of its Semiconductor Products Sector. Freescale concentrated on their integrated circuit devices’ automotive, embedded, and communications areas. In 2006, a private investment group purchased it, and in 2015, it merged with NXP Semiconductors. Automobile security, hybrid and all-electric cars, next-generation wireless infra, smart electricity planning, portable medical equipment, consumer appliances, and smart mobile devices are some of the company’s primary applications and end-markets. The headquarters of Freescale Semiconductor is in Austin, Texas, and it was established on November 9th, 2006.

Freescale Semiconductor
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History

Out of the US$27 billion in sales for the entire Motorola company as of 2003, the Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector generated semiconductor sales of US$5.0 billion. On October 6, 2003, Motorola made the announcement that their semiconductor section would be sold off to form Freescale. In 2004, Freescale concluded its IPO at the cost of US$13. It predicted that the shares would cost between US$17.50 and US$19.50, but once the market became less favourable to tech firms, it reduced its pricing to US$13. In 2006, Freescale consented to be acquired by a group led by the Blackstone Group for $17.6 billion. In November 2006, a special shareholder meeting approved the purchase offer. One of the top ten buyouts in history, the transaction concluded in December 2006, is said to be the biggest private acquisition of a technology business. In 2011, the company’s IPO was successfully concluded. The ticker symbol for Freescale on the NYE was FSL. The firm was under investigation for improper activity in connection with this IPO, and at the point of the IPO, it had $7.6 billion in existing debt on its books.

Marvell Semiconductor filed a lawsuit against Freescale for violating seven patents. In 2015, a settlement was reached. Freescale was ordered to pay an unspecified amount as part of a settlement after losing a claim for patent infringement brought by Tessera Corporation.

Products

The primary business division of Freescale, MSG (Micro-controller Solutions Group), is currently the top provider of semiconductors to the automotive industry. It is the main provider of engine system microcontrollers globally. Electronics are used in modern cars to operate the engine for maximum performance and to cut pollution. Freescale’s microcontrollers and analogue power management circuits are used in automobile airbags and anti-lock brake systems. Other integrated sensor products made by Freescale include accelerometer sensors and pressure sensors. Freescale’s NMG (Networking and Multimedia Group) and RASG are two additional significant semiconductor businesses in addition to the MSG business group (RF, Analog and Sensors Group). Until Apple Computer switched to Intel processors in 2006, Freescale had also been a PowerPC microprocessors (ICs) supplier for its PowerBook and Mac mini products. In order to create and advance the use of Power Architecture, they became a founding member of Power.org in 2006. Additionally, Freescale offers a line of Digital Signal Processors (DSP) based on StarCore Technology. Systems for voice-over IP, video infrastructure, and broadband wireless all require DSPs from Freescale.

CEO – Greg Lowe

The CEO of Freescale Semiconductor is Greg Lowe. Lowe formerly worked at Texas Instruments as executive vice president and supervisor of the Analog division before joining Freescale. Lowe received his degree from Stanford University’s Executive Program. In 1984, Mr. Lowe graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Terre Haute, Indiana’s Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology – A Leading Provider Of Semiconductors All Over The World.

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Microchip Technology Inc. is a publicly-traded American company that makes microcontrollers, mixed-signal integrated circuits, analog circuits, and Flash-IP integrated circuits. Microcontrollers (PIC, dsPIC, AVR, and SAM), embedded security devices, Serial EEPROM devices, Serial SRAM devices, radio frequency (RF) devices, thermal, power, and battery management analog devices, and linear, interface, and wireless products are among the company’s offerings. In order to raise awareness and expertise of embedded applications, Microchip Technology provides support and resources to educators, students and researchers. Online resources (e.g., code examples, textbook recommendations), One-on-one consultations, instruction at regional training centers, aid in finding low-cost development tools, silicon contributions, free versions of Microchip programming tools, and product discounts are all forms of support.

Establishment Of Company

General Instrument’s microelectronics branch was spun out as a wholly-owned subsidiary in 1987, resulting in the company’s formation. When a group of venture capitalists bought Microchip Technology in 1989, it became an independent company, and it went public in 1993. The nanoWatt XLP Microcontrollers (With World’s Lowest Sleep Current) were unveiled by Microchip Technology in April 2009. As of 2009, Microchip had sold over 6 billion microcontrollers. Microchip bought Silicon Storage Technology (SST) in April 2010 and sold a number of SST flash memory assets to Greenliant Systems in May of the same year. Microchip Technology has been shipping over a billion CPUs annually since 2011. Microchip Technology supplied the 10 billionth PIC microcontroller in September 2011.

Microchip Technology, Inc. is a semiconductor company that develops and manufactures specialized devices. Its primary activities include semiconductor product design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and Flash intellectual property licensing. The company’s product line includes 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit PIC microcontrollers, as well as 16-bit dsPIC digital signal controllers with onboard Flash memory. It also offers a wide range of high-performance linear, mixed-signal, power management, thermal management, radio frequency (RF), safety and security, and interface devices, as well as serial EEPROMs, Serial Flash memories, and Parallel Flash memories. The company was created on February 14, 1989, in Chandler, Arizona, and is based there.

Microchip Technology
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Growth And Expansion

As of January 2021, MCHP had acquired more than 10 companies since its start, with two of those acquisitions involving private equity firms. Hampshire Company, a privately held company specializing in the commercialization of universal touch screen controller circuitry and comparable software, was bought by MCHP in 2008. It completed the $3.4 billion acquisition of Atmel, a semiconductor manufacturing business, in 2016. Microsemi Corporation was acquired by MCHP a year later. According to sources, the purchase price reflected an $8.35 billion total equity value, while the overall enterprise value was believed to be around $10.5 billion. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to MCHP. Sloan has won this award for the past ten years in a row for his ability to implement workplace flexibility in order to meet both corporate and employee objectives. RHCP has also received multiple “Best Place to Work” accolades from Forbes Magazine, Bay Area News, and Phoenix Business Journal. It has also been named to Training Magazine’s “Training Top 125” list on multiple occasions. In Forbes’ Global 2000 list for 2020, MCHP was ranked 1040th.

Ganesh Moorthy – CEO

In March 2021, Ganesh Moorthy was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Microchip Technology, and in January 2021, he was also named to Microchip’s Board of Directors. Since February 2016, he has served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Microchip, having previously served as Executive Vice President from October 2006 to May 2009. Mr. Moorthy was previously Vice President of Microchip, where he was in charge of several of the company’s business areas. Prior to joining Microchip in 2001, he spent 19 years at Intel in various engineering and executive leadership capacities. According to the SEC’s Form 4, Ganesh has made over 87 trades in Microchip Technology shares since 2004. On May 15, 2022, he exercised 18,592 units of MCHP stock valued $1,225,771.