The story
Founded by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann in 1974.1
Zilog was started in California in 1974 by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann with support and encouragement from Exxon's computing division. 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 did not want the company to become an Exxon subsidiary and left Zilog in 1978.
On January 1, 1979, Zilog released the first issue of its comic book Captain Zilog, which featured the Z8000 computer. The Z8000, introduced that year, was the company's first 16-bit microprocessor.
The company became a subsidiary of Exxon in 1980. Exxon initially acquired 51 percent of the company before buying it outright; however, the management and employees bought it back in 1989, led by Edgar Sack.
Zilog went public in 1991, but was acquired in 1998 by Texas Pacific Group for $527 million. Curtis Crawford replaced Sack and changed the company's direction towards 32-bit data communications processors.
In 1999, Zilog acquired Production Languages Corporation for an unspecified amount less than $10 million.
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 on the 8- and 16-bit microcontroller market.
Jim Thorburn led Zilog back into profitability, and by FY 2007, Zilog had $82 million in sales. During this time, the company developed the Z8 Encore! 8-bit Flash MCU and ZNEO 16-bit Flash MCU product families. In February 2007, Zilog hired Darin Billerbeck to replace Jim Thorburn as president and CEO.
The last year Zilog introduced any new 8-bit microcontroller products was 2007. With no new product road map, FY2008 sales fell 20% to $67.2 million. Sales fell 46% in FY2009 to $36.2 million.
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In January 2008, Zilog declined an unsolicited proposal made by Universal Electronics Inc. to acquire the company.
On February 19, 2009, Zilog announced that it had sold off its 8-bit Crimzon Universal Remote Control infrared microcontroller product line, as well as its ARM9 32-bit microcontrollers, including the Zatara security microcontrollers and 15 patents, to Maxim Integrated Products. Remote control manufacturer Universal Electronics Inc. purchased all of Zilog's software and intellectual property assets related to Zilog's universal remote control business, including all ROM code, software, and database of infrared codes. Zilog sold these assets for $31 million cash.
In December 2009, IXYS Corporation bought the company for $62.4 million in cash, which was significantly below the market valuation of Zilog's stock at the time. Details of the acquisition have been under investigation.
Since early 2010, Zilog has refocused on the industrial and consumer markets for motion detection, motor control, RF wireless and embedded security applications, and is currently producing a number of reference designs that integrate its 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers with IXYS power management products.
In February 2012, Zilog announced the release of its Z8051 family of microcontrollers and tool sets to fill a vacancy in the developer market for 8051 cores that was created when chip-maker NXP Semiconductors exited the 8051 market. Later that year, Zilog announced its ZGATE Embedded Security solution, which incorporates its eZ80F91 MCU and TCP/IP stack with an embedded firewall to offer protection against cyber threats and attacks at the chip level.
In August 2017, Zilog and its parent IXYS Corporation were acquired by Littelfuse Inc in exchange for $750 million in cash and stocks.
From Wikipedia’s article on Zilog, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3