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Società Generale Semiconduttori
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>In 1957, <a href="/facts/Mario_Tchou/bNbQLyYx">Mario Tchou</a>, an engineer from <a href="/facts/Olivetti/bdoq8XPH">Olivetti</a>, convinced <a href="/facts/Adriano_Olivetti/alUg6SXS">Adriano Olivetti</a> to found an Italian electronic manufacturing company for production of <a href="/facts/Solid-state_electronics/US0Qbq28">solid-state electronic</a> devices. Olivetti sent his son Roberto Olivetti and Mario Tchou to negotiate with Virgilio Floriani, president of Telettra, to establish a <a href="/facts/Joint_venture/f2Fv8QqA">joint venture</a>. Within the same year, Olivetti and Telettra founded <i>Società Generale Semiconduttori</i> (SGS).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> One of the reasons for SGS's foundation was the need of parts (diodes and transistors in particular) for <a href="/facts/Olivetti_Elea/cNXxt8la">Elea</a>, a <a href="/facts/Mainframe_computer/nrBR6rWa">mainframe</a> that was being developed by Olivetti. The headquarters of the company was located in <a href="/facts/Agrate_Brianza/N7J6mWmt">Agrate Brianza</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>In 1960, <a href="/facts/Fairchild_Semiconductor/TUD8v4P0">Fairchild Semiconductor</a> acquired one third of the company and a joint venture called SGS-Fairchild was formed. That gave SGS access to Fairchild's newly invented <a href="/facts/Planar_process/2YxvYRLX">planar manufacturing</a> technology.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> The partnership ended in 1968 and Fairchild sold its SGS stocks to IRI-STET, predecessor of <a href="/facts/TIM_(Italy)/dM2wUoJF">TIM</a>. </p><p>In December 1971, SGS merged with an Italian semiconductor company named ATES and forms SGS-ATES. On 23 April 1985, the company changes its name to SGS Microelettronica. 2 years later, SGS Microelettronica merged with <a href="/facts/Thomson_SA/gw0LfI7V">Thomson Semiconductors</a> to form SGS-Thomson, which later became <a href="/facts/STMicroelectronics/4gbGJTVr">STMicroelectronics</a> in 1998.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Leonardo_(company)/G6adRqfQ">Leonardo</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Zilog/sB6jH5vw">Zilog</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Mostek/NIePx5jb">Mostek</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Thomson-CSF/1ctM43HW">Thomson-CSF</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>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. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Salvatore Torrisi (2002). Imprenditorialità e distretti ad alta tecnologia: teoria ed evidenza empirica. Milano: Franco Angeli. p. 168. ISBN 978-88-464-3683-2. <a href="978-88-464-3683-2" target="_blank">978-88-464-3683-2</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>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. <a href="978-0-299-10460-3" target="_blank">978-0-299-10460-3</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Salvatore Torrisi (2002). Imprenditorialità e distretti ad alta tecnologia: teoria ed evidenza empirica. Milano: Franco Angeli. p. 168. ISBN 978-88-464-3683-2. <a href="978-88-464-3683-2" target="_blank">978-88-464-3683-2</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>