| In 1997, TI continued its leadership in digital signal processing. And with growth that was twice as fast as the market, TI emerged as the largest mixed-signal/analog producer in the world. |
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  TI offers products that set performance
standards. Not only with the fastest and
most powerful digital signal processors but
also with the most versatile — thanks to
software programmability. Combine this with
a broad product portfolio and you have the
world’s leading DSPS company. Greater value
for |
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TI’s strategic acquisitions have strengthened our DSP position.
We have a great web of support around our DSP products - software programmers, universities, hardware and software companies. More than 300 universities worldwide are teaching TI DSP engineering.
There are almost 300 companies that develop hardware and software products or provide consulting services that support our DSPs. |
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| For products such as hard disk drives, TI is a leader in integrating functions into a single solution. Separate functions previously handled by several types of chips can now be done by TI DSPS. | our customers equals added value and growth for TI.
World-class design support for semiconductor chips and an ever-expanding installed base of software are two more keys to TI’s success. These advantages offer equipment makers far more tools than any other competitor. And these tools mean faster time to market for TI’s customers. Few can match our integration capabilities across a broad range of semiconductor products, designing solutions that incorporate digital signal processors, mixed-signal/ analog, memory and microcontrollers, among other technologies. That’s important because few companies have the technical expertise in all these components. And no one can match the number of customers using TI’s digital signal processing technology — more than 30,000 — or the number of third-party developers — more than 300. TI also wins with process technology. We were among the leaders in developing 0.18-micron technology, a fabrication technique that allows us to pack 125 million transistors on a single piece of silicon. In addition, we were first to demonstrate a programmable digital signal processor that operates on less than 1 volt of electricity, promising power savings which can lead to longer battery life and lighter-weight mobile phones. In 1997, TI again raised the bar on performance by introducing the world’s fastest digital signal processor — the TMS320C6x, rated at 1.6 billion instructions per second; and the world’s fastest floating-point digital signal processor — the ‘C67x, rated at 1 billion floating-point operations per second. These new chips widen the gap between TI and our competitors. As the world goes digital, and in the process becomes more digital signal processing- centric, we are working to ensure that future generations will design products based on our platform. The winning edge in process technology, systems integration and applications begins in the research laboratories and development centers of TI. In 1997, we opened the world’s most advanced silicon research facility, the Kilby Center, named for Jack S. Kilby, the TI engineer who invented the integrated circuit in 1958. The new facility houses many of the company’s current R&D programs — which combine to represent investments totaling more than $1.1 billion in 1997 and another $1.3 billion in 1998. |
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