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ZiLOG

Zilog, Inc.
Subsidiary
Industry Semiconductors
Founded 1974
Founder Federico Faggin
Headquarters San Jose, California,
United States
Key people
Federico Faggin
Chairman of the Board
Darin G. Billerbeck
President CEO Director
Products Microcontrollers
Revenue Increase$82 million (2007)
Decrease$67.2 million (2008)
Decrease$36.2 Million (2009)
Decrease −$18.39 million (2008)
Increase $3.18 million (2008)
Number of employees
174(March 2009), 1010 (parent)March 2013
Parent IXYS Corporation
Website Zilog.com
IXYS.com

Zilog, Inc., previously known as ZiLOG, is an American manufacturer of 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers. Its most famous product is the Z80 series, 8-bit microprocessors that were compatible with the Intel 8080 but less expensive to use. The Z80 was widely used during the 1980s in many popular home computers such as the TRS-80 and the ZX81. Both 16- and 32-bit processors were also produced by the company, but these did not see widespread use. From the 1990s the company focused primarily on the microcontroller market.

The name is an acronym of Z integrated logic, also thought of as "Z for the last word of Integrated Logic".

Zilog was started in California in 1974 by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann, who both left Intel after working on the 4004 and 8080 microprocessors and custom chips. Masatoshi Shima, who also worked with Faggin on the 4004 and 8080, joined Zilog in 1975. Ungermann had a falling out with Faggin and left Zilog in 1978. The company became a subsidiary of Exxon in 1980, but the management and employees bought it back in 1989, led by Dr. Edgar Sack.

Zilog went public in 1991, but was acquired in 1998 by Texas Pacific Group. Curtis Crawford replaced Dr. Sack and changed the company's direction towards 32-bit Data Communications Processors. Bonds were sold against the company to fund the new developments, but after the Internet bubble burst in 2000 and the resultant reduction in customer demand for such products, Curtis Crawford was replaced by James (Jim) Thorburn, who reorganized the company under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2001 and refocused it back to the 8- and 16-bit microcontroller market.


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