Motorola

From ArticleWorld

Motorola is an electronics and wireless communications company headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, near the American city of Chicago. One of the largest companies in the world, Motorola manufactures cellular telephones, pagers, walkie-talkies, microprocessors, semiconductor devices and electronic equipment for defence and space applications.

History

Motorola was started in Chicago in 1928 by its founder Paul Galvin. At the time of its foundation, the company was called the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation. A small, low-cost car radio named ‘Motorola’ was marketed by the company in 1930. Later in the same decade, walkie-talkies were produced for both domestic and policing applications. These two-way systems became popular during the Second World War (1939-1945). It was in 1947 that the company decided to change its name to Motorola Inc. In the same year, a low-priced television named the Golden View was marketed by the company. It soon became one of the fastest selling televisions in the United States.

Towards the end of the 1940s when the transistor was invented and a major revolution was initiated in the field of electronics, Motorola opened a research and development centre in Phoenix in the state of Arizona. The sole aim of this facility was to explore new avenues in the nascent semiconductor technology. Motorola soon rose to the top when it came to consumer electronics. Radios were supplied to Ford Motor Company, American Motors and Chrysler Corporation apart from the regular televisions and radios.

The eight-track tape player meant for automobiles was introduced in 1965. Motorola played an important role in the rapid development of IC technology through the1970s. The very first microprocessor, the 6800, with 4,000 transistors in all, was introduced in 1974. Matsushita Electric of Japan bought the company’s television business during the same year.

It was during the 1970s and 80s that the company gained a firm foothold in the cellular telephone sector with its introductory installations in parts of the United States.

Other hallmarks in the development of Motorola include the invention of the first 16-bit microprocessor, the 68000 and its successors, the 68020, 68030 and 68040 and the introduction of a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, called the 88000. The development of the PowerPC family of such processors along with Apple and IBM has been another breakthrough. In 1994, the first Macintosh used this processor.

Future of Motorola

Among the latest developments from the company has been the execution of a satellite network involving hundreds of satellites to facilitate high-speed global communication. Motorola has constantly been a leader in communications technology and great contributions are expected in the future for the betterment of the standard of living the world over.