Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology Inc. is a publicly-listed American corporation that is a manufacturer of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP integrated circuits. Its products include microcontrollers, Serial EEPROM devices, Serial SRAM devices, embedded security devices, radio frequency devices, thermal, power and battery management analog devices, as well as linear, interface and wireless solutions.
Corporate headquarters are located in Chandler, Arizona, with wafer fabs in Tempe, Arizona, Gresham, Oregon, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, assembly/test facilities in Chachoengsao, Thailand, and Calamba and Cabuyao, Philippines. Sales for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2019 were $5.35 billion.
Microchip Technology offers support and resources to educators, researchers and students in an effort to increase awareness and knowledge of embedded applications. Support includes access to labs, curricula and course materials, One-on-one consultations, online resources, training at regional training centers, silicon donations, assistance finding low cost development tools, free versions of Microchip programming tools and product discounts.
History
Microchip Technology was founded in 1987 when General Instrument spun off its microelectronics division as a wholly owned subsidiary.The newly formed company was a supplier of programmable non-volatile memory, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, card chip on board, and consumer integrated circuits.
An initial public offering later in the year was canceled because of the October 1987 stock market crash.
Microchip Technology became an independent company in 1989 when it was acquired by a group of venture capitalists led by Sequoia Capital.
In the same year, Microchip Technology announced the release of small, inexpensive 8-bit reduced instruction set computing microcontrollers for $2.40 apiece whereas most RISC microcontrollers were 32-bit devices selling for hundreds of dollars.
In 1990, 60% of Microchip Technology's sales were from the disc drive industry and the product portfolio relied heavily on commodity EEPROM products.
The company was losing $2.5 million per quarter, had less than 6 months of cash in reserve, had exhausted lines of credit, and was failing to control expenses.
Early in the year, the venture capital investors accepted an offer to sell Microchip Technology to Winbond Electronics Corporation of Taiwan for $15 million. Winbond Electronics backed out of the deal after the Taiwanese stock market decrease in May 1990. Vice President of Operations, Steve Sanghi, was named president and chief operating officer of Microchip Technology in 1990.
After several quarters of losses, Sanghi oversaw Microchip Technology's transition from selling commodity-based products to specialized chips, such as the RISC technology.
Microchip Technology conducted an IPO in 1993, which Fortune magazine cited as the best performing IPO of the year with a stock appreciation of 500% and over $1 billion in market capitalization.
At the end of 2015, Microchip Technology posted its 100th consecutive quarter of profitability.
In-line with the general consolidation of the semiconductor industry, Microchip Technology purchased 17 semiconductor manufacturers from 2007 through 2017.
offers 8-bit microcontrollers, 16-bit PIC Microcontrollers, dsPIC® digital signal controllers, 3analog and interface products, security authentication products, timing/communication/real-time clock and calendar products, real-time clock and calendar devices, memory products, wireless products, high-throughput USB and Ethernet interface solutions, MOST® technology, embedded controllers and super I/O devices, touch, multi-touch and 3D gesture control solutions, power over Ethernet systems and ICs, and field programmable gate arrays.
8-bit Microcontrollers
Microchip Technology's 8-bit portfolio consists of over 1,200 devices constructed under two architectures: PIC microcontrollers or AVR microcontrollers. Key features of the 8-bit microcontrollers are Core Independent Peripherals, low-power performance with picoPower and eXtreme Low Power technology and EMI/EMC performance.16-bit Microcontrollers
The 16-bit microcontrollers, such as the PIC24, offer an upgrade over the 8-bit devices in features and peripherals. The 16-bit microcontrollers are constructed under the PIC microcontroller architecture.32-bit Microcontrollers
Microchip Technology's 32-bit product portfolio run at up to 600 DMIPs with up to 2048 KB Flash and 512 KB RAM with 32 MB integrated DDR2 dynamic random-access memory or 128 MB externally addressable options. The 32-bit portfolio addresses advanced graphics and Internet of Things applications.32-bit Microprocessors
The 32-bit Arm microprocessors were designed for applications beyond the 32-bit microcontrollers with 600 MHz operation, support for up to 512 MD of external DDR2 or DDR3 DRAM and power down to 0.3 mW sleep. Available peripherals and users interfaces include gigabit Ethernet MAC addresses, USBs, hardware video decoding, capacitive sensing, 12-bit CMOS sensors, I²S audio interfaces and 24-bit graphic LCD controllers with overlays.Analog and Interface Products
Microchip Technology offers a broad portfolio of analog products that address thermal management, power management, battery management, mixed-signal, linear, interface, safety and security needs. The product portfolio includes stand-alone analog and interface devices in highly integrated solutions that combine various analog functions, save space, support a variety of bus interfaces and enhance analog features on microcontrollers, digital signal controllers, microprocessors and FPGAs. The power solutions include Silicon diodes, MOSFETs, insulated-gate bipolar transistors, Silicon carbide MOSFETs and Schottky diodes.Digital Signal Controllers
The dsPIC product family of digital signal controllers includes a digital signal processor engine with up to 100 MIPS of motor control that offers variable speeds, constant torque PI control and field oriented control. The dsPIC family also offers dual cores equipped with pulse-width modulation, analog-to-digital converters, programmable gate arrays and the capability for live firmware updates and provides permanent-magnet motors, alternating current induction motor and brushless DC motor control in industrial, medical, automotive and consumer applications.Embedded Controllers and Super I/O
Microchip Technology offers computer-related products including embedded controllers based on enhanced serial peripheral interface bus technology, Input/Output devices, keyboard controllers and root of trust, secure boot and authentication and system management devices. Common applications include traditional computing applications and embedded computing, such as interactive kiosks, networking equipment, and automated teller machines.Memory Products
Microchip Technology offers a wide-range of memory products that includes serial EEPROM, serial SRAM, serial flash, serial NvSRAM, serial EERAM, parallel EEPROM, parallel one-time programmable flash, parallel flash and CryptoMemory devices.Programming and Development Tools
Microchip Technology offers a variety of programming tools and other tools to support the use of microcontrollers, digital signal controllers, and microprocessors. The MPLAB and Atmel Studio ecosystems include integrated development environments, compilers, configurators, programmers, in-circuit emulators, and debuggers.Security and Authentication Products
Microchip Technology offers crypto element devices that provide authentication, data integrity, and confidentiality in a variety of applications, such as disposables, accessories and nodes. The crypto element devices use ultra-secure, hardware-based cryptographic countermeasures including tamper detection.Timing, Communication and Real-Time Clock and Calendar Products
Microchip Technology offers oscillators, clock generators, clock and data distribution products and real-time clock and calendar devices. The oscillator product line offer low jitter and low power online-configurable products with quartz-based or MEMS silicon-based resonator options. The clock generation product line offer online-configurable, single chip, multiple-frequency clock tree options. The clock and data distribution product line offers buffers, logic translators and multiplexers. The packet network synchronization product line includes ITU-T/IEEE® standards-compliant digital phase-locked loops for synchronous Ethernet as well as IEEE 1588 based applications. The real-time clock and calendar devices offer a battery back-up capability, digital timing, and on-board EEPROM and SRAM memory.USB and Ethernet Interface Products
Microchip Technology offers Ethernet solutions including Ehternet PHYs, switches, controllers and bridge devices. The USB solutions include USB smart hub controllers, power delivery and charging, transceivers/switches, flash memory controllers and security solutions.Wireless Products
Microchip Technology's offerings focus on lower-power operation designed for sensing or command and control products. The wireless product portfolio includes solutions for Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, LoRa technology, IEEE 802.15.4 and proprietary 2.4 GHz and sub-GHz communication solutions.Product Milestones
In April 2009, Microchip Technology announced the nanoWatt XLP Microcontrollers, claiming the world's lowest sleep current. Microchip Technology had sold more than 6 billion microcontrollers as of 2009.As of 2011, Microchip Technology ships over a billion processors every year. In September 2011, Microchip Technology shipped the 10 billionth PIC microcontroller.
Acquisitions
KeeLoq technology and patents
KeeLoq technology enhances security in wireless and remote controlled systems through the use of infrared, radio frequency, microwave transmission and secure smart card solutions and may be used to enable keyless vehicle entry, garage doors openers, home security systems, pre-paid phone cards, electronic tagging, passive transponders, point of sale readers, and other applications. The KeeLoq technology, patents and marketing rights were acquired by Microchip Technology on November 20, 1995 from Nanoteq of South Africa for $10 million in cash. Microchip Technology used the purchase to create the Secure Data Products Group to provide turnkey and custom solutions.Puyallup Wafer Facility
The Puyallup Wafer Facility located in Puyallup, Washington was a 92-acre semiconductor manufacturing complex owned by Matsushita Electric Industrial Company. Matsushita Electric purchased the facility in 1993 and ceased production in December of 1998. Microchip Technology announced the execution of an agreement to buy the complex on May 24, 2000. Microchip Technology expected to hire 100 employees before year end and 1,000 employees in total. The new facility was expected to double Microchip Technology's manufacturing capacity and support about $1.5 billion in annual sales. The $80 million acquisition was completed on July 26, 2000. Microchip Technology's plans were never realized due to the early 2000s recession. As a result, the company put the facility up for sale for $94 million. Microchip Technology announced the sales of the Puyallup Facility, which had become known as Fab 3, on October 19, 2007 for $30 million from an unsolicited offer.TelCom Semiconductor
TelCom Semiconductor was a publicly traded company out of Mountain View, California that offered analog and mixed-signal products for a variety of applications, including power and thermal management. TelCom Semiconductor was spun out of Teledyne Industries in 1993 through a management buyout. Microchip Technology announced plans to purchase TelCom Semiconductor on October 27, 2000 in an all stock deal for $300 million. The acquisition was intended to accelerate Microchip Technology's stand-alone analog integrated circuit offerings and enable the company to attach additional analog products to microcontroller sales. TelCom Semiconductor employed about 300 employees and, in 1999, posted $57.3 million in revenue and $13.1 in net income.Hampshire Company
Hampshire Company was a privately held company that sold large-format universal touch screen controller electronics and related software. Microchip Technology announced the acquisition of Hampshire Company on October 15, 2008. The terms of the deal are confidential. The acquisition was intended to extend Microchip Technology's expertise in universal touch screen controller technology and accelerate R&D efforts.HI-TECH Software
HI-TECH Software was an Australian-based company that provides ANSI C compilers and development tools. Founded in 1984, the company is best known for its HI-TECH C PRO compilers with whole-program compilation technology, or Omniscient Code Generation. HI-TECH Software was bought by Microchip on 20 February 2009, whereupon it refocused its development effort exclusively on supporting Microchip products.Supported manufacturers and architectures:
- Microchip PIC10, PIC12, PIC14, PIC16, PIC18, PIC24, PIC32 and dsPIC
- Cypress PSoC's
- Silicon Laboratories MCUs
- 8051 MCUs
- Z80 for CP/M and Z80 cross compiler.
ZeroG Wireless
Silicon Storage Technology (SST)
Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. was a Sunnyvale, California, United States, technology company producing non-volatile memory devices and related products.SST supplied NOR flash and other integrated circuits for high-volume applications.
Bing Yeh co-founded SST in August 1989, and served as its chief executive.
Starting in February 2010, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and public company Microchip Technology both made offers to acquire SST.
In April 2010, Microchip completed the acquisition for about $292 million.
Microchip sold several SST flash memory assets to Greenliant Systems in May of that year.