Transitron Electronic Corporation was a
semiconductor device fabrication
Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to manufacture semiconductor devices, typically integrated circuits (ICs) such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, and memories (such as Random-access memory, RAM and flash memory). It is a ...
company of the United States. It was founded by Leo and David Bakalar incorporated in
Wakefield, Massachusetts
Wakefield is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston, greater Boston metropolitan area, municipal corporation, incorporated in 1812 in the United States, 1812 and located about north-nor ...
, in 1952. David Bakalar was the president from 1952 to 1984. In 1986 the company went out of business, failing to keep pace with the rapid advances in technology.
["The Demise Of Transitron"]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''["David Bakalar - Transistor Museum Historic Profile"]
/ref>
History
The company was established at the time of the economic boom in Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
.[ Its first successful product was the gold bonded ]germanium
Germanium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white and similar in appearance to silicon. It is a metalloid or a nonmetal in the carbon group that is chemically ...
diode
A diode is a two-Terminal (electronics), terminal electronic component that conducts electric current primarily in One-way traffic, one direction (asymmetric electrical conductance, conductance). It has low (ideally zero) Electrical resistance ...
, widely used in computers, military equipment, etc.[ After that the company manufactured silicon ]rectifier
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction.
The process is known as ''rectification'', since it "straightens" t ...
s (which David claims were the world's first ones), grown junction silicon NPN transistor
A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a type of transistor that uses both electrons and electron holes as charge carriers. In contrast, a unipolar transistor, such as a field-effect transistor (FET), uses only one kind of charge carrier. A ...
s,[ In 1959 ''Time Magazine'' reported it was number 3 American semiconductor company, after ]Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
and General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston.
Over the year ...
,[ while ''Fortune Magazine'' placed it at number 2, with estimated 1959 sales of $40 million.]["Companies"]
at the Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum (CHM) is a computer museum in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the Information Age, and explores the Digital Revolution, computing revolution and its impact ...
A number of senior industry persons, including Wilfred Corrigan
Wilfred J. Corrigan is a British engineer and entrepreneur, known for founding and running LSI Logic Corp. He was the chairman and chief executive of LSI for over two decades until 2005, during the earlier part of which he made vital contribu ...
, Dave Fullagar, Pierre Lamond Pierre R Lamond (born September 12, 1930) is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley who has specialized in semiconductors, systems and cleantech. He was a partner at Sequoia Capital based in Menlo Park, California, from 1981 until he left to join Vi ...
, Nick DeWolf, George Wells, and Thomas Longo used to work in Transitron.[
In December 1959 the company went public, with ]IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
of 1,000,000 shares at $36 each. The first week closed at $43 per share.["Corporations: The Transistor Tycoons"]
/ref>
After going out of business, David Bakalar devoted his time to sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
; see ''Renaissance'' (1989)
Demise
By 1986, not being successful in the semiconductor and transistor industry, the company became indebted and sold one of its subsidiary to EF Hutton
EF Hutton was an American stock brokerage firm founded in 1904 by Edward Francis Hutton and his brother, Franklyn Laws Hutton. Later, it was led by well-known Wall Street trader Gerald M. Loeb. Under their leadership, EF Hutton became the se ...
as part of buyout
In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity, or a controlling interest of a company, or a majority share of the capital stock of the company is acquired. The acquirer thereby "buys out" the present equity holde ...
and soon went out of business.
References
{{reflist
Defunct semiconductor companies of the United States
Wakefield, Massachusetts