Our History

Through both acquisition and robust internal development, onsemi has achieved leadership positions in several markets and technologies that fuel its growth, including automotive, industrial, and cloud power. In 2021, to better reflect its broad technology portfolio, differentiated product lines, and market leadership, ON Semiconductor rebranded itself as onsemi.

Though there is a new look and feel, the company’s roots are foundational. In 1999, Motorola spun off its standard products semiconductor business into an independent company called ON Semiconductor. Motorola had been a pioneer in transistors, especially for commercial applications. In fact, a Motorola transponder relayed the first words from the moon to Earth in July 1969. Motorola also pioneered the automotive electronics industry, from the first mobile radios in police cars in the 1940s to automotive electric controls and semiconductors in the 1970s.

However, Motorola wasn’t the only industry pioneer to provide the foundation for the modern-day onsemi. In 2016, onsemi acquired Fairchild Semiconductor to become a top semiconductor manufacturer. Fairchild was founded in 1957 to build transistors out of silicon rather than the more common germanium. It also pioneered the planar process, making transistors more easily, at a lower cost, and with higher performance and reliability. This planar process led Fairchild to develop the first commercially viable integrated circuit in 1960, which became the foundation for many of the innovations we enjoy today.

Fairchild and Motorola served as the foundation for the technology industry that we know today. Almost every technology company currently in existence can trace its roots back to one of these pioneers. However, not only does onsemi combine the heritage of industry giants Motorola and Fairchild, but also Cherry Semiconductor, AMI Semiconductor, SANYO Semiconductor, Aptina Imaging Corporation, SensL Technologies and many others.