National Semiconductor Looks Back on 50 Years in the Industry



SANTA CLARA, CALIF., /www.national.com/ -- National Semiconductor Corp. is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

National’s story is one intricately woven into the history of the high-tech industry. When the company was founded, computers were the size of buildings, telephones were wired to walls, televisions were boxes filled with tubes and humans had not yet left the earth’s atmosphere.

National was founded in 1959, the same year the integrated circuit (IC) was created. In 1966, National moved the company’s headquarters to a large plot of land in Santa Clara, California, that was to become known as “Silicon Valley”.

  Known for its world-class manufacturing and logistics, product reliability, and innovative technology, National has had many notable “industry firsts” in the last 50 years.

The analog industry was started by pioneering engineers such as National’s Bob Widlar. In 1967, National developed the first integrated voltage regulator, the LM100. National went on to develop the industry’s first modern operational amplifier (LM101), which is still in use today. National developed the first band-gap voltage reference (LM113) and the first low-dropout (LDO) regulator (LM2930).

Over time, the analog industry has grown to $37.5 billion in worldwide revenue, driven by some of the industry’s most profitable companies. Many of these companies can trace their histories back to products, packaging technology, processes, as well as people from National Semiconductor.

As National observes its 50-year anniversary, the company honors the many contributions of its employees in innovative product design, manufacturing, and process and packaging technologies. National continues to celebrate the employee talent and ingenuity developing the next generation of energy-efficient products. Learn more about National’s unique history and exciting future at http://www.national.com/history.

   
 
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