VLSI Technology

VLSI Technology was founded in 1979 in San Jose and sold something new: custom chips built from standard cells and design tools, so that other companies could produce their own silicon without owning a fab. Its most enduring move came in 1990, when VLSI joined Acorn and Apple to co-found ARM — and manufactured the first ARM processors for the Acorn Archimedes.

VLSI also made PC chipsets, but was bought by Philips in 1999 and folded into Philips Semiconductors, later spun out as NXP. The architecture it helped launch now sits in nearly every phone.