Brand Story(1): Texas Instruments – A History of Innovation and Excellence

Texas Instruments (TI) is a global leader in designing and manufacturing analog and embedded semiconductors, its products serve a wide range of fields such as industrial, automotive, personal electronics, communications equipment and enterprise systems. TI has a rich history of innovation for over nine decades, from its origins as a geophysical service company to its current position as one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide.

TI was founded in 1930 as Geophysical Service Incorporated (GSI), a company that specialized in equipment for the seismic industry and defense electronics. In 1951, GSI was being reorganized as Texas Instruments, indicating its expansion into the field of technology. TI produced the world’s first commercial silicon transistor in 1954 and it designed and manufactured the first transistor radio in the same year . TI was also a pioneer in the development of integrated circuits, which brought revolutions to the electronics industry. In 1958, a TI engineer called Jack Kilby invented the first integrated circuit chip while working at TI’s Central Research Labs. Kilby was being awarded with Nobel Prize of Physics for his invention.

TI continued to innovate and diversify its product portfolio throughout the 1960s and 1970s. TI introduced the first hand-held calculator in 1967, which became a popular consumer product, the first single-chip micro controller was launched in 1970, which combined all the elements of computing onto one piece of silicon. TI’s micro controllers are widely used today in various applications such as automotive systems, industrial automation, smart home devices and medical equipment. TI entered into the digital signal processing (DSP) market in 1979, with its TMS320 family of processors. TI’s DSPs are used for high-performance computing tasks such as audio and video processing, wireless communications and artificial intelligence.

In 1987, TI invented the digital light processing (DLP) device which is another groundbreaking technology known as the DLP chip. The DLP chip is a microelectronic system (MEMS) that uses millions of tiny mirrors to create high-quality images for projectors, TVs and cinema screens. DLP technology of TI was being widely used in the fields of entertainment, education and business settings. In 1990, TI released its most popular calculator–TI-81 which made it a leader in the graphing calculator industry. TI’s calculators are now used by millions of students and teachers around the world for math and science education.

In 1997, TI sold its defense business to Raytheon Company which allowed it to focus on its core competencies in digital solutions. In 2011, TI acquired one of the leading analog chip maker National Semiconductor to strengthen its position in the analog market, the acquisition has added around 45,000 analog products and customer design tools to TI’s portfolio. Today, TI has over 33,000 employees worldwide with around 45,000 patents, its annual revenue has reached $20.03 billion in 2022.

TI’s vision is to create a better world by making electronics more affordable through semiconductors while its mission is to change the world with one chip at a time. Integrity, innovation and commitment are its core values, TI also operates with its three ambitions of acting like an owner of the company for decades, adapt and succeed in a changing world as well as being a company that everyone proud of.

TI is not only a technology company but also a responsible corporate citizen that cares about its people, communities and environment since TI  has invested in education programs that inspire students to pursue their career in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) while supporting various charitable causes such as disaster relief, health care and social justice. TI commits itself to environmental sustainability and reducing carbon footprint by improving energy efficiency, using renewable energy sources as well as minimizing waste reduction.

In a nutshell, TI is a company that has shaped the history of electronics and continues to drive innovation and excellence in the semiconductor industry while having strong impacts to the world through its products, people and values.

TI has strong advantage in manufacturing and cutting edge technology, especially in its 300 millimeter (mm) wafer fabs, which enables it to produce more chips per wafer at a lower cost and higher quality than its competitors

TI has a broad product portfolio of about 80,000 products that help customers manage power, sense and transmit data, and provide the core control or processing in their electronic systems1. Some of TI’s representative products are analog chips, embedded processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), digital light processing (DLP) devices and calculators

Share to your social below!