Walden Rhines

From Wild West to Modern Life Walden Rhines

In 1968, Texas Instruments, Motorola, and Fairchild dominated the emergingsemiconductor business with 66% combined market share. Over the next fiftyyears, the industry de-consolidated - dozens of new semiconductor companiesemerged, creating a more dynamic market that altered the list of the top tenlargest companies. During the same period, an ecosystem of companies emerged to grow thematerials, develop the manufacturing equipment, design the software, andcreate all the other capabilities needed to support what has become one of themost strategic industries in the world. Much of this evolution was driven byrelatively young, inexperienced individuals operating in a totally unregulated, free market, worldwide business environment. I was privileged to work withmany of these people and to be involved in some of the revolutionaryinnovations. Many people, including Daniel Nenni, have asked me to relate some of thestories of game-changing programs and people with whom I was involved, including the dynamics of growth of the Electronic Design Automation (EDA)industry. I've put this off for a long time, but Daniel is persistent. So I startedwriting some short vignettes during long airline flights. This activity requiredthat I contact other people who were involved in this history, some of whom Ihadn't seen for decades, to verify the accuracy of my recollections. I hope thiscollection of essays provides some feeling for the remarkable history of thegrowth of an industry as well as insights into its future evolutio