SigmaTel
 Official SigmaTel logo | |
| Company type | Public (NASDAQ: SGTL) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductors, Electronics, Software Development |
| Founded | January 1, 1993 in Austin, Texas, United States |
| Defunct | 2008 |
| Fate | Acquired by Freescale Semiconductor |
| Headquarters | Austin , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Dave Baker (Chip design lead), Danny Mulligan (Chip design lead), Jonathan L. Nesbitt (SDK development manager), Tom Zudock (VP of Software) |
| Products | System-on-a-chip solutions for AV media players and recorders, audio and video codecs, microcontrollers, reference circuit boards, software development kits |
Number of employees | Unknown |
| Parent | Freescale Semiconductor (from 2008) |
SigmaTel, Inc. was a U.S.-based company specializing in system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, electronics, and software development, headquartered in Austin, Texas. The firm focused on AV media player and recorder SoCs, alongside reference circuit boards and software development kits utilized by prominent brands such as Apple iPod Shuffle, Samsung, and Sony Walkman. Their offerings incorporated a proprietary cooperative kernel with device drivers that supported USB mass storage and audio-video decoding. In 2003, SigmaTel became the largest initial public offering (IPO) in Austin’s history, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker SGTL until its acquisition by Freescale Semiconductor in 2008.
History
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, SigmaTel was a leading provider of audio codecs embedded in the majority of PC sound cards, including Creative’s Sound Blaster lineup. The company expanded into integrated audio solutions for motherboards and MP3 players. By 2004, SigmaTel’s SoCs powered more than 70% of global flash memory-based MP3 players. Despite this dominance, the company lost its position as the supplier for the iPod Shuffle in 2006 to competitors such as PortalPlayer, which was subsequently acquired by Nvidia.
In 2005, SigmaTel earned recognition as Austin’s "Best Place to Work." That same year, it expanded its software portfolio by acquiring technologies from Digital Networks North America, the proprietor of Rio Audio. The following year, Integrated Device Technology (IDT) purchased SigmaTel’s AC’97 and HD Audio codec lines for $72 million; this transaction included intellectual property rights and personnel to maintain product development.
SigmaTel unveiled portable QVGA video decoders in 2007 that supported WMV and MPEG4 formats. Its microcontrollers were incorporated into printers manufactured by Samsung (marketed under Xerox) and Kodak multifunction devices. Although its products were widely adopted—with over 150 MP3/WMA player models utilizing its SDK3.1 and STMP35xx SoCs featuring Microsoft DRM10—SigmaTel’s stock traded well below its book value.
On February 4, 2008, Freescale Semiconductor announced an agreement to acquire SigmaTel for $110 million; the acquisition concluded later that year with shares bought at $3 apiece. Freescale continued advancing SigmaTel’s ARM9-based STMP3xx portable AV SoCs while integrating its analog intellectual property into Freescale’s i.MX multimedia product portfolio to enhance their offerings.
By February 2009, Freescale had reduced the former SigmaTel workforce by approximately 70%, ceasing new product development under the SigmaTel name. A small team remained to provide ongoing support for existing OEM customers until product end-of-life. The company shifted focus from complete hardware-software solutions toward component-level support with real-time operating system device drivers.
SigmaTel was proactive in protecting its intellectual property; after prevailing in patent infringement disputes at the U.S. International Trade Commission concerning dynamic voltage and frequency scaling technologies used in MP3 players, U.S. Customs seized infringing products from Actions Semiconductor. In 2007, SigmaTel reached a cross-licensing settlement with Actions Semiconductor that permitted unrestricted sales of Actions’ products within the U.S. market for three years.
Products
SigmaTel developed audio and video codec integrated circuits found in numerous desktops, laptops, and portable media players supporting MP3/WMA playback. Their portfolio also included microcontrollers for digital devices, compressed video decoders, and TV audio solutions. Prominent audio chips comprised the portable STMP35xx and STMP36xx series as well as the AV-capable STMP37xx SoCs, all supported by sophisticated device drivers compatible with various NAND flash memories used for program code storage, virtual memory management, audiovisual file storage, and new audio recording functions.
The STMP35xx SoC was embedded in more than 150 million portable media players worldwide. The chip design team was led by Dave Baker (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin), formerly of IBM, alongside Danny Mulligan (EE MBA), who had experience with Texas Instruments. Jonathan L. Nesbitt—an engineer prior to SigmaTel’s IPO with backgrounds from UTexas Austin and Motorola Advanced Media Platforms—managed development of the STMP35xx SDK from 2006 through 2009. Additional key embedded software engineers included Thor Thayer; Jeff Gleason specializing in audio DSP; Marc Jordan focusing on boot ROM and USB functionality; J.C. Pina; as well as physicists Gray Abbott and William Gordon (Ph.D.). Many core team members originated from Motorola's Advanced Media Platforms division, later integrated into Freescale’s multimedia group. Tom Zudock served as vice president of software overseeing SDK teams for STMP35xx and STMP36xx platforms. Manufacturing operations involved multiple semiconductor fabrication facilities across Asia, including TSMC in Taiwan.
SigmaTel’s audio ICs enabled encoding and recording of MP3 and WAV formats using inputs from microphones, SigmaTel FM ICs (STFM1000), or line-in sources. The company provided OEMs and ODMs with printed circuit board layouts and reference schematics to facilitate streamlined production processes. Turnkey portable media player real-time operating systems (RTOS), frameworks, and application software were integral components of SigmaTel’s business strategy, delivering comprehensive SoC software packages to device manufacturers.
Audio chips from SigmaTel were integrated into Dell laptops and desktops, Sony Vaio notebooks, early Apple MacBooks, along with numerous standalone audio playback devices. The STMP35xx SoC was notable for requiring no external RAM or analog circuitry such as voltage regulators or amplifiers. Over 150 portable audio models were built upon the STMP35xx SDK3 platform, achieving cumulative sales exceeding 150 million units between 2002 and 2006.
Significantly, the first-generation iPod Shuffle incorporated the SigmaTel STMP35xx SoC with SDK version 2.6. Other devices featuring this SoC included Dell Ditty, Creative MuVo products, Philips models among others. The chip gained recognition for delivering superior audio quality within the industry. Later SDK versions (3.1x) introduced Microsoft DRM10 support enabling compatibility with digital music services such as Rhapsody, Napster, and Yahoo! Music Engine.
See also
External links
- 1993 establishments in Texas
- 2008 disestablishments in Texas
- American companies established in 1993
- American companies disestablished in 2008
- Computer companies established in 1993
- Computer companies disestablished in 2008
- Defunct computer companies of the United States
- Defunct computer hardware companies
- Defunct semiconductor companies of the United States
- Digital signal processors
- Electronics companies established in 1993
- Electronics companies disestablished in 2008
- Fabless semiconductor companies
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment