Texas Instruments - What Markets?

TI excels at matching products with the needs of many end-equipment customers. No single customer accounts for more than 4 percent of semiconductor sales.

100x Since introducing our first single-chip digital signal processor in 1982, Texas Instruments has developed the industry’s broadest product families, with a diversity of solutions that reach a wide spectrum of customers.
With ADSL modems using TI DSPS, Internet files that now take minutes to download will only take seconds.
DSP solutions are sold into industries as diverse as automotive, telecommunications, computing, consumer electronics, office equipment and motor controls.
The DSP market has actually built up more momentum in its first 15 years than the microprocessor market did in the same time period.
TI has more market share in DSPs than the next two competitors combined.

The demand for greater bandwidth opens the door for network applications such as TI’s digital subscriber line technology.
xDSL delivers up to 100 times the speed over copper telephone lines than today’s 56K modem.

Our “standard” digital signal processing products, along with a complete range of mixed-signal/analog, other high-performance semiconductors and added-value software, are sold to more than 30,000 customers worldwide.
Despite phenomenal growth in the market for digital signal processors, it’s safe to say that most DSPS applications haven’t been invented yet. During the next 10 years, entirely new markets are likely to develop around the unmatched speed and versatility of Digital Signal Processing Solutions. One of the most powerful elements of TI’s strategy is that numerous markets are small today but may be the next blockbuster application tomorrow. Here are some of the markets where our products are already making a significant impact.
More than half of the 86 million digital cellular phones made in 1997 had TI DSPS at their core. We’re #1 in digital wireless, largely because we were first to introduce a system-on-chip digital engine — combining a fast digital signal processor, a mixed-signal device, a low-power microprocessor, system software and other semiconductors in a versatile, compact, problem-solving unit.
TI is capturing a significant portion of the semiconductor growth in networking equipment, targeting two distinct segments of the market — LANs (local area networks) and modems.
We’re winning new business in the LAN segment with a product family that revolutionizes the way computer networks are designed for office settings. Prior to 1996, most of the intelligence in a LAN resided in a central server. That led to bottlenecks: Connections would bog down if too many people were on the LAN simultaneously. TI’s ThunderSwitch solves this problem by pushing more processing power out toward the edges of the LAN. The result: Networking bottlenecks give way to superfast connections for virtually any number of users. All four of the top LAN equipment manufacturers have introduced products based on TI’s family of ThunderSwitch products.
TI also is reshaping the market for modems. Until recently, most modems were built around hardwired semiconductor chips and had a top transmission speed of 33.3 kilobits per second (Kbps). Now, more than half the modems shipped have programmable digital signal processors — and can send data at speeds up to 56 Kbps.
Our next-generation modem chipset should create even more opportunities. This technology will allow ordinary telephone lines to transmit data up to 100 times faster than today’s 56K modems. It would put high-powered digital signal processors to work at either end of the phone line (inside the modem, and at the telephone company’s central office). TI acquired Amati Communications, the world leader in digital modem technology, to strengthen our position on the leading edge of this emerging market.
Most portions of the entertainment market are just beginning to go digital. Today’s emerging applications include digital video, digital satellite transmission, set-top boxes, digital displays and interactive media — many of which will one day incorporate a DSPS-driven interface.
TI ranks #1 worldwide in revenues from integrated circuit components sold to the makers of high-performance disk drives. TI’s mass storage solutions use the superior processing speed of digital signal processors to outperform microprocessor-based products. In addition, our single-chip digital signal processing-based solutions can often replace two or more processor and memory components inside a disk drive. Digital signal processing-based products are programmable, allowing disk drive makers to introduce products without having to completely redesign the underlying chip architecture, improving time to market.
As industry’s efforts to reduce energy consumption continue, DSPS will be in the middle of the action. In 2001, about 1.4 billion brushless motors will find their way into household appliances, automobiles, industrial sites and commercial systems. DSPS will be commonplace in many of those new motors — to provide precision, high-performance control and significantly improved efficiency.
Other potential new markets include health care, where DSPS could give people with disabilities new hope for enhanced sight and hearing. Improved safety systems also are in development — including systems that would help drivers avoid collisions, or predictive failure systems that would allow safety inspectors to spot defects in bridges and aircraft.