| Type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| Traded as | LSE: WLF |
| Industry | Semiconductor, Digital signal processing |
| Founded | Edinburgh (1984) |
| Headquarters | Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Mike Hickey (CEO) Andy Brannan (CCO) Stephen Doran (COO) David Milne (Co-founder) Jim Reid (Co-founder) |
| Employees | 430+ |
| Website | www.wolfsonmicro.com |
Wolfson Microelectronics plc (LSE: WLF) is a multinational microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It specialises in signal processing chips for the consumer electronics market and has engineering and sales offices throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States.
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Started in 1984 by David Milne and Jim Reid, Wolfson grew under their stewardship to float on the London Stock Exchange in 2003 and be listed in the FTSE 250. Both Milne and Reid had connections with the University of Edinburgh; Reid attained a First Class Honours degree in EEE, and Milne directed the Wolfson Microelectronics Institute at King's Buildings from 1973 to 1985.[1] In February, 2007, when Milne chose to step down, he was replaced in his CEO role by Dave Shrigley, previously Vice-President at Intel Corporation. His departure was one of a number of executive changes in late 2006, as Financial Director George Elliott also stood down.
In 2006, Milne was declared Entrepreneur of the Year by the CBI, and Wolfson named Company of the Year.[2] In November 2006 David Shrigley became the CEO of Wolfson, his first appointment at this level: he had previously worked for Intel in the Asia-Pacific region, and held directorships elsewhere.[3]
In September 2008, Mike Hickey joined Wolfson as Chief Executive Officer Designate and became Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2009. Mr Hickey joined Wolfson from Motorola Inc, where he held various senior positions in Motorola’s mobile device business. Most recently he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Multimedia product organisation, reporting directly to the Mobile Devices business president. Previously, he held senior positions at Alcatel Optronics and during an earlier period at Motorola, prior to which he worked for Digital Equipment Co. Ltd and Philips.[4] In July 2009, Andy Brannan joined Wolfson as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr Brannan previously held the position of VP of Nokia's SOSCO business, and prior to that spent eight years as Executive VP of Sales & Customer Operations at Symbian Ltd.[5]
Wolfson products have found applications within the digital audio player market, such as in Microsoft's Zune product line, including the Zune 30 and Zune HD, as well as providing the codec functionality for much of Apple Inc.'s iPod series (with the exception of the iPod shuffle[6] and iPod classic[7]) and Sony's PSP.[8] Wolfson chips have also found place in the Microsoft Xbox game console, Logitech Squeezebox Duet[9] and the PalmOne Treo smartphone, with the Apple connection continuing with the earlier versions of the iPhone[10] and iPod Touch.[7][11]
Wolfson audio products can also be found in the Samsung Wave S8500 and Samsung i9000 Galaxy S smartphones,[12] as well as a number of LG phones including the LG-LB4400 music phone and the Android-powered LG Optimus GT540 smartphone.[13]
In April 2010, Wolfson signed a licence agreement with Tensilica to create a low power, high definition (HD) sound platform.[14]
In a joint mission in 2006 with the IEEE and Royal Society of Edinburgh, Wolfson provided funding for an award, taking its name from the Scottish mathematician-physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879). This award recognizes work with "exceptional impact on the development of electronics and electrical engineering or related fields". Recipients receive $20,000 in addition to a gold medal, a bronze replica and a certificate, and is awarded up to two individuals chosen by a committee.[15][16][17]
The following people received the IEEE/RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award:[17][18]