Watkins-Johnson Company

Last updated
Watkins-Johnson Company
Type Subsidiary
IndustryElectronics
SuccessorWJ Communications Inc.
Founded1957
FounderDean A. Watkins,
H. Richard Johnson
FateAcquired by TriQuint Semiconductor
Headquarters Palo Alto, California
Key people
W. Keith Kennedy (former CEO)

Watkins-Johnson Company was a designer and manufacturer of electronic devices, systems, and equipment. The company, commonly referred to as "W-J", was formed in 1957 by Dean A. Watkins and H. Richard Johnson, and was headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Its products included microwave tubes, followed by solid-state microwave devices, electronic warfare subsystems and systems, receiving equipment, antennas, furnaces and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and automated test equipment. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Partial Corporate Timeline

The Watkins-Johnson plant in Scotts Valley, California was discovered to have soil and groundwater contamination in 1984. It was added to the EPA's Superfund list in 1990. [13]

Related Research Articles

Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company was divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011. Motorola Solutions is generally considered to be the direct successor to Motorola, Inc., as the reorganization was structured with Motorola Mobility being spun off. Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo in 2014.

Texas Instruments American semiconductor designer and manufacturer

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globally. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog chips and embedded processors, which account for more than 80% of its revenue. TI also produces TI digital light processing technology and education technology products including calculators, microcontrollers and multi-core processors. The company holds 45,000 patents worldwide as of 2016.

Mitel Canadian telecommunications company

Mitel Networks Corporation is a Canadian telecommunications company. The company previously produced TDM PBX systems and applications, but after a change in ownership in 2001, now focuses almost entirely on Voice-over-IP (VoIP) products. Mitel is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with offices, partners and resellers worldwide.

Conexant Systems, Inc. was an American-based software developer and fabless semiconductor company that developed technology for voice and audio processing, imaging and modems. The company began as a division of Rockwell International, before being spun off as a public company. Conexant itself then spun off several business units, creating independent public companies which included Skyworks Solutions and Mindspeed Technologies.

Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the government, defense and commercial sectors. They specialized in surveillance solutions, microwave weaponry, and electronic warfare. In 2019, it merged with L3 Technologies to form L3Harris Technologies.

Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia)

AWA Ltd, formerly Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd, is an Australian electronics manufacturer and broadcaster. Throughout most of the 20th century AWA was Australia's largest and most prominent electronics organisation, undertaking development, manufacture and distribution of radio, telecommunications, television and audio equipment as well as broadcasting services.

RF Micro Devices, was an American company that designed and manufactured high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, RFMD traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol RFMD. The Company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1991. RF Micro has 3500 employees, 1500 of them in Guilford County, North Carolina.

Ikanos Communications, Incorporated, was a provider of semiconductor and software products for use in homes. It was headquartered in Fremont, California. The company’s digital subscriber line, communications processors and other products were used in customer premises equipment from network equipment manufacturers and telecommunications service providers.

TriQuint Semiconductor

TriQuint Semiconductor was a semiconductor company that designed, manufactured, and supplied high-performance RF modules, components and foundry services. The company was founded in 1985 in Beaverton, Oregon before moving to neighboring Hillsboro, Oregon. In February 2014, Greensboro, North Carolina-based RF Micro Devices and TriQuint announced a merger in which the new company would be Qorvo, Inc., with the merger completed on January 1, 2015.

Fox Paine & Company is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. Fox Paine & Company, LLC was founded in 1996 by former Kohlberg Kravis Roberts partner Saul A. Fox. Former Kohlberg & Co. partner W. Dexter Paine III was brought on as Fox's Partner in 1997. In December 2007, after several months of litigation, the partners separated, with Saul Fox retaining the firm's name, while Dexter Paine formed a new firm, Paine & Partners, with the legacy Fox Paine investment team.

Microsemi Corporation was an Aliso Viejo, California-based provider of semiconductor and system solutions for aerospace & defense, communications, data center and industrial markets.

MACOM Technology Solutions

MACOM Technology Solutions is a developer and producer of radio, microwave, and millimeter wave semiconductor devices and components. The company is headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in 2005 was Lowell's largest private employer. MACOM is certified to the ISO 9001 international quality standard and ISO 14001 environmental standard. The company has design centers and sales offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Matheson (compressed gas & equipment)

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. is a supplier of industrial and specialty gases, and gas handling equipment in the United States. The company offers semiconductor, medical gases, welding, atmospheric and bulk, and cylinder gases for customers using gas in their labs, fabs, plants, and processes. It also designs and manufactures gas purification systems, generators, delivery systems, filters, purifiers, detection equipment, control valves, and management accessories; and cylinder gas enclosures, source manifolds, and panels, as well as helium recovery solutions. In addition, the company provides support, engineering, and systems management services to analytical laboratories and semiconductor manufacturers worldwide.

Aeroflex

Aeroflex Inc. was an American company which produced test equipment, RF and microwave integrated circuits, components and systems used for wireless communications. Its headquarters were located in Plainview, New York. In May 2014, Aeroflex was acquired by the UK aerospace company Cobham for $1.46 billion.

Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, develops, and sells fabless semiconductors for communications applications in wireless and wired networks.

L3HARRIS Electron Devices

Electron Devices is a technology company specializing in the manufacture of microwave devices for ground-based, airborne and satellite communications and radar. EDD began operations at their Torrance, California, facility in 1967. They are known for their traveling-wave tubes (TWTs), traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), microwave power modules (MPMs) and electronic power conditioners (EPCs) as well as xenon gas ion propulsion systems (XIPS). Since its inception, EDD has produced tens of thousands of TWTs. They are the only U.S. supplier of space-qualified TWTs and TWTAs.

Cascade Microtech is a semiconductor test equipment manufacturer based in Beaverton in the Portland metropolitan area of the United States. Founded in 1983, the Oregon-based company employs nearly 400 people. Formerly publicly traded company as CSCD on the NASDAQ, the company is now fully merged with FormFactor, Inc..

Teledyne e2v is a manufacturer with its headquarters in England, that designs, develops and manufactures systems and components in healthcare, life sciences, space, transportation, defence and security and industrial markets. The company was previously known as English Electric Valve Company and for a short time Marconi Applied Technologies. e2v was acquired by US company Teledyne Technologies in March 2017.

Qorvo American technology company

Qorvo is an American semiconductor company that designs, manufactures, and supplies radio-frequency systems for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications, as well as foundry services. The company, which trades on NASDAQ, was created by the merger of TriQuint Semiconductor and RF Micro Devices, which was announced in 2014 and completed on January 1, 2015. The headquarters for the company originally were in both Hillsboro, Oregon, and Greensboro, North Carolina, but in mid-2016 the company began referring to its North Carolina site as its exclusive headquarters.

L3Harris Technologies (L3Harris) is an American technology company, defense contractor and information technology services provider that produces C6ISR systems and products, wireless equipment, tactical radios, avionics and electronic systems, night vision equipment, and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the government, defense, and commercial sectors. They specialize in surveillance solutions, microwave weaponry, and electronic warfare. It was formed from the merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation on June 29, 2019, and is expected to be the sixth-largest defense contractor in the world.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Watkins-Johnson Company History". Funding Universe. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. Kenney, Martin (2000). Understanding Silicon Valley: The Anatomy of an Entrepreneurial Region. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN   0804737347.
  3. 1 2 O'Laughlin, Terry (2016). H. Richard Johnson, in 'Memorial Tributes: Volume 20'. National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/23394. ISBN   978-0-309-43729-5 . Retrieved 9 November 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  4. "Condor Systems, Inc. Purchases Microwave Surveillance Systems Unit from Watkins-Johnson". Business Wire. The Free Library. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. "Watkins-Johnson to Sell Military Related Divisions". The New York Times. 3 September 1997. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  6. "Watkins-Johnson Sells Division to Stellex". The New York Times. 1 November 1997. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  7. "Watkins-Johnson Selling a Unit to G.E.C. of Britain". The New York Times. 19 August 1999. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  8. "Fox-Paine to Buy Watkins-Johnson for $270 Million". The New York Times. 27 October 1999. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  9. "WJ Communications Inc (WJCI) IPO". NASDAQ. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  10. "Watkins-Johnson's legacy sold for $1 a share". siliconbeat. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  11. "WJ's Heritage". TriQuint Semiconductor. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  12. "TriQuint Acquires Ailing WJ Communications". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 3 January 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  13. "Superfund - Site Overviews - Watkins-Johnson Company (Stewart Division)". epa.gov. US Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 9 September 2017.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)