The Internet Era is here and the advances in digital technology are completely changing the way we live. From digital cellular phones to handheld computers not much bigger than a stack of playing cards, digital technology has created an unprecedented explosion of new products that allow consumers to communicate with one another as well as integrate the numerous products they use in their daily lives.
This increase in integration along with the increased speed of communication has created the “global” economy in which most business must operate to remain competitive. Hardly a day goes by that we do not encounter products that are enabled by DSP technology. From consumer electronics including cell phones, toys, TV’s DVD, answering machines, to military, scientific, medical and infrastructure applications. DSP’s are showing up everywhere. ”(Frantz, 2000) Let us take a look at one company that is heavily involved in the Internet Era. Texas Instruments Incorporated is a global semiconductor company and the world’s leading designer and supplier of digital signal processing and analog technologies.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company’s businesses also include materials and controls and educational and productivity solutions. The company has manufacturing or sales operations in 27 countries. (TI Annual Report, 1999) Texas Instruments has become the world’s leader in real-time technologies that help people communicate. Texas Instruments has also developed a revolutionary digital light processor technology that combines more than a million tiny mirrors on a dime-sized surface to create an ultra-sharp display for use in televisions, PCs, and movie theaters. Moody’s, 2000) Texas Instruments is the world’s leading manufacturer of digital signal processors having acquired nearly half the world’s market. These digital signal processors are one of the vital components in digital electronics such as digital cellular phones, camcorders, VCR’s, modems and even automobiles. The company is also the world’s leading maker of analog chips. (Hoovers, 2000) These DSP’s and analog chips are considered to be the semiconductors of the Internet age.
This company has set a corporate vision to “become a premier electronics company providing world leadership in digital solutions for the networked society”. TI plans to accomplish corporate goals by producing products and technologies that set the company and their customers apart from the competition, by competing in high-growth markets and by providing consistently good financial performance. (Texas Instruments Homepage, 2000) Texas Instruments Inc. is divided into three divisions. The first of these is the semiconductor business.
This division accounts for 84% of 1999 revenues. The next largest division is the Materials & Controls division, which accounts for 11% of revenues. This business sells electrical and electronic controls, connectors and sensors into commercial and industrial markets. The third and smallest division is the Educational & Productivity Solutions division that represents 5% of revenues. This division is a leading supplier of education and graphing calculators selling primarily through retailers and to educational institutions. Standard & Poor’s, March 2000) Combined these divisions employ over 38,000 people.
Competing in numerous markets brings about a large number of strong competitors. These competitors include AMD, Analog Devices, Atmel, Broadcom, Canon, Casio Computer, Conexant Systems, DSP Group, Fairchild Semiconductor, Genesis Microchip, Hitachi, IBM, Infineon Technologies, Integrated Device Technology, Intel, LSI Logic, Lucent, Maxim Integrated Products, Motorola, Nam Tai, National Semiconductor, NEC, Sharp, STMicroelectronics and Toshiba.
