St Microelectronics – A European Semiconductor Conglomerate
The usage and importance of semiconductors have increased in the modern era. To suffice the need for efficient telecommunication, semiconductors are of utmost importance. From making an integrated circuit to transistors and microcontrollers, everything falls under the domain of electronics. The demand for electronics engineers and semiconductor companies is rising exponentially with every passing day.
Major semiconductor companies around the world have either emerged from the US (Broadcom) or Asia (Samsung). Japan and China have also proved their excellence in this part. Seeing this Europe finally stepped out and harnessed its potential.
In 1987, STMicroelectronics was established and in 1957 the parent companies of ST were established. The parent companies of ST are SGS Microelettronica and Thomson-CSF Semiconductor. The company is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The parent companies
With America, Korea, and Japan making a significant presence in the global marketplace, Europe was lagging a bit in this field. The Italian and the French government ran SGS Microelettronica and Thomson-CSF Semiconductor respectively before merging. And, they decided to merge the two companies to create something huge and worthy that can compete in the current industrial competition.
SGS was established in 1957 in Olivetti for producing semiconductors and related products. The company didn’t expand because the manufacturing unit was developed only for the local area. In the 1960s it made an agreement with Fairchild Semiconductors and the company started growing. But, very soon it reached saturation and was still insignificant compared to the other companies in the market.
Thomson-CSF was born back in 1879 by Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston. It was known as a major electronics and defense contractor in France. The company merged with General Electric in 1892 and since then multiple companies merged with it. In the next century, few divisions of this company were sold and the existing parts were divided before privatization.
Formation of STMicroelectronics
The merging took place in 1987. Previously, the name of the new Italian-French conglomerate was SGS-THOMSON which was changed to ST in May 1998. The company changed its fate once the production started. By 2014, the company was ranked 14th on the top semiconductor’s company list.
By the end of 2013, the company made a sale worth $850 million and the annual revenue summed up to $8 billion. In 2014, the company became the 9th largest semiconductor company worldwide in terms of revenue. By this time, ST not only went international but established a market in ten different countries including manufacturing units and research centers. Around 45,000 employees were hired and were in full shape to beat the competitors.
The Success
The company soon filed for an IPO and the first one was completed on 4th December 1994. In 2002, the company started a partnership with Motorola and TSMC. By 2005, ST’s only competitors were Toshiba, Intel, Samsung, and Texas Instruments. It became the largest semiconductor company in Europe famous for making semiconductor chips.
In 2007, ST and Intel started a joint venture and merged Intel Flash Memory activities. In April 2008, ST and NXP started a new partnership concerning mobile activities. The major shareholder was ST owning 80% of the company. Next year welcomed another joint venture of ST-NXP Wireless with Ericsson Mobile Platforms.
ST contributes a very considerable amount in R&D. The main R&D centers of ST are in Geneva, Tours, Milan, and Catania.
Current Status of STMicroelectronics
By 2018, ST hired 46,000 employees among which more than 7,000 worked in the R&D centers. The annual revenue has summed up to $9.66 billion. ST has expanded to thirty-five different countries with 80 marketing offices.
Apart from the main headquarters in Geneva, ST has other headquarters too. The company has established its US headquarters in Texas followed by other branches in Amsterdam, Tokyo, Singapore, and Shanghai. Three headquarters in Asia concludes a rich business in this region.
Towards a better world
With the increasing crisis in our planet for every existing non-renewable resource, ST is more inclined towards producing smart solutions. Sustainability is a key feature of ST and throughout this journey, ST has maintained strict sustainability strategies. ST is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact for the last nineteen years. The company actively participates in any kind of challenge concerning environmental protection and finds a solution to it.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more