National Semiconductor Corporation
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Fate | Acquired by Texas Instruments |
| Founded | May 27, 1959 in Danbury, Connecticut, United States |
| Defunct | September 23, 2011 |
| Headquarters |
Santa Clara, California, United States |
|
Key people
|
Donald Macleod, Chairman & CEO |
| Products | Semiconductors |
| Revenue |
 $1.42 billion USD (2010) |
|
$325.8 million USD (2010) |
|
|
$209.2 million USD (2010) |
|
|
Number of employees
|
5,800 (2010) |
| Parent | Texas Instruments |
| Website | www.ti.com |
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer which specialized in analog devices and subsystems, formerly with headquarters in Santa Clara, California, United States. The company produced power management integrated circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers, communication interface products and data conversion solutions. National's key markets included wireless handsets, displays and a variety of broad electronics markets, including medical, automotive, industrial and test and measurement applications.
On September 23, 2011, the company formally became part of Texas Instruments as the "Silicon Valley" division.
National Semiconductor was founded in Danbury, Connecticut by Dr. Bernard J. Rothlein on May 27, 1959, when he and seven colleagues, Edward N. Clarke, Joseph J. Gruber, Milton Schneider, Robert L. Hopkins, Robert L. Hoch, Richard N. Rau and Arthur V. Siefert, left their employment at the semiconductor division of Sperry Rand Corporation.
The founding of the new company was followed by Sperry Rand filing a lawsuit against National Semiconductor for patent infringement. By 1965, as it was reaching the courts, the preliminaries of the lawsuit had caused the stock value of National to be depressed. The depressed stock values allowed Peter J Sprague to invest heavily in the company with Sprague's family funds. 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. At that time Sprague was 27 years old. Jeffrey S. Young characterised the era as the beginning of venture capitalism.
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