Philco

The predecessor to the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company (Philco) was founded in 1892. A pioneer of consumer radio and television sets, the company entered the transistor business in the early 1950s. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1961 and operated as Philco-Ford Corporation. Philco developed bipolar linear and digital ICs and in 1966 purchased MOS pioneer General Micro-Electronics of Santa Clara. As Ford Microelectronics, the company continued into the late 1980s.