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Società Generale Semiconduttori

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Società Generale Semiconduttori
Company typePublic
IndustrySemiconductor industry
Founded1957; 67 years ago (1957)
FounderOlivetti and Telettra
Defunct1987 (1987)
Fatemerged with Semiconductor branch of Thomson SA
SuccessorSTMicroelectronics
HeadquartersAgrate Brianza, Lombardy, Italy[1]
Area served
Europe, Americas, Asia–Pacific

SGS (Società Generale Semiconduttori, English: General Semiconductor Company) was an Italian manufacturer of semiconductor devices, most notably diodes, transistors and DIP ICs.

History

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In 1957, Mario Tchou, an engineer from Olivetti, convinced Adriano Olivetti to found an Italian electronic manufacturing company for production of solid-state electronic devices. Olivetti sends his son Roberto Olivetti and Mario Tchou to negotiate with Virgilio Floriani, president of Telettra, to establish a joint venture. Within the same year, Olivetti and Telettra found Società Generale Semiconduttori (SGS).[2] One of the reasons for SGS's foundation is the need of parts (diodes and transistors in particular) for Elea, a mainframe that was being developed by Olivetti. Headquarters of the company was located in Agrate Brianza.[3]

In 1960, Fairchild Semiconductor acquired one third of the company and a joint venture called SGS-Fairchild got formed. That gave SGS access to Fairchild's newly invented planar manufacturing technology.[4] The partnership ended in 1968 and Fairchild sold its SGS stocks to IRI-STET, predecessor of TIM.

In December 1971, SGS merges with ATES and forms SGS-ATES. On 23 April 1985, the company changes its name to SGS Microelettronica. 2 years later, SGS Microelettronica merges with Thomson Semiconductors to form SGS-Thomson, which later becomes STMicroelectronics in 1998.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ SGS-ATES (1983). SGS 25 anni (brochure).
  2. ^ Giuseppe Rao. "La sfida al futuro di Adriano e Roberto Olivetti. Il Laboratorio di Ricerche Elettroniche, Mario Tchou e l'Elea 9003". Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée. 115.
  3. ^ a b Salvatore Torrisi (2002). Imprenditorialità e distretti ad alta tecnologia: teoria ed evidenza empirica. Milano: Franco Angeli. p. 168. ISBN 978-88-464-3683-2.
  4. ^ Malerba, Franco (1985). The semiconductor business : the economics of rapid growth and decline. Internet Archive. Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-10460-3.