Vadem

Vadem Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Computer hardware, Semiconductor
Founded	1983 (1983) in San Jose, California, United States
Founders	Henry Fung, Chikok Shing
Defunct	2013 (2013)
Fate	Dissolved after restructuring and spin-offs
Headquarters	San Jose , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Portable computers, PDAs, chipsets, system-on-chip designs
Number of employees	30 (1994)

Vadem Inc., which later became Vadem Limited, operated as an original design manufacturer and computer design company from 1983 until 2013. The firm focused on creating mobile computing solutions, collaborating with companies such as Zenith Data Systems, Osborne Computer Corporation, and Sharp Corporation. In the late 1990s, Vadem introduced its own PDA product under the name Vadem Clio.

Establishment and initial achievements (1983–1987)

Vadem was established in 1983 in San Jose, California by Henry Fung and Chikok Shing, who brought experience from their previous roles at Intel and Osborne Computer Corporation, respectively. Their inaugural significant assignment involved designing a portable computer for Morrow Designs, a Silicon Valley company led by George Morrow. This collaboration culminated in 1984 with the launch of the Morrow Pivot, one of the first battery-operated MS-DOS compatible portable computers. Morrow invested less than $3 million to acquire the design.

Operating under a non-exclusive licensing agreement, Vadem transferred design rights to Osborne Computer Corporation, which released the device as the Osborne III in 1984. In 1985, Shing engineered the compact lunchbox-style Morrow Pivot II exclusively for Morrow, who subsequently sold its rights to Zenith Data Systems. Zenith rebranded this model as the Zenith Z-171, achieving notable success including a $27 million contract in 1986 to supply 20,000 units to the IRS—surpassing competitors such as IBM.

Vadem broadened its design portfolio by developing Sharp Corporation’s inaugural fully IBM PC compatible portable, the Sharp PC-7000, launched in 1985, followed by its successor, the Sharp PC-4500, in 1987. Additionally, Zenith commissioned Vadem to create their integrated Zenith Eazy PC in 1987, further establishing Vadem’s role as a key partner in pioneering portable computing products.

Chipset development and collaboration with Intel (1987–1994)

By 1988, Vadem maintained an 18-person team within a 6,000-square-foot research and development center located in San Jose. The company redirected its efforts toward producing integrated circuits for personal computers and embedded applications, gaining traction in the PC-compatible chipset arena. That year, Vadem secured two five-year agreements with Intel to develop chipsets compatible with the IBM PC XT and PS/2 Model 30 platforms, receiving both funding and sales support from Intel.

The VG-501/VG-502 chipset designed for Model 30 compatibility incorporated elements of Intel’s 80186 microprocessor architecture. It improved compatibility by adapting on-chip peripheral signals to traditional PC standards while adding extra timers and DMA channels. Operating at 16 MHz—twice the speed of the Model 30’s original 8086 CPU—this chipset also minimized component count. Initially intended for laptops by Sharp and Zenith, it marked a significant advancement. The XT-compatible VG-603 chipset integrated nearly all motherboard functions except for CPU and RAM, supporting essential features like parallel and serial ports, real-time clock functionality, and scratchpad memory. Both chipsets were introduced to market in November 1988.

Building upon their laptop design knowledge, Vadem released the VG-600 LCD controller late that year. This controller emulated Motorola’s 6845 graphics chip for IBM PC compatibility while efficiently managing various LCD displays through optimized DRAM usage.

In 1989, Vadem developed Intel’s 82347 power management chip designed for the i386SL laptop processor. By 1990, they offered an affordable CMOS chipset compatible with Intel’s 80186 and NEC’s V40 processors; during this period IBM also retained Vadem as a consultant for its PCradio cellular notebook initiative.

In August 1992, Vadem unveiled the VG-230 "Sub-Notebook Engine," a fully integrated PC system-on-chip aimed at OEMs creating subnotebooks and PDAs. Powered by the NEC V30HL processor—a 16 MHz CPU compatible with the 8086 instruction set—it combined PC support circuitry with dual PC Card controllers, an LCD controller capable of dual-scan CGA output, keyboard scanning capabilities, and specialized hardware for pen input recognition that allowed simultaneous handwriting processing alongside CPU operations. Devices such as Hewlett-Packard’s OmniGo 100 palmtop and IBM’s Simon smartphone utilized this chipset.

By 1996, Vadem introduced the VG-330 SoC featuring a NEC V30MX processor clocked at 32 MHz delivering performance on par with early Intel 386 processors. This chipset incorporated VGA graphics support at a resolution of 640×480 pixels, compliance with Advanced Power Management standards, Serial Infrared communication capabilities, and enhanced touchscreen functionality.

Mobile devices and decline (1994–2013)

By 1994, Vadem had expanded its workforce to 30 employees, concentrating solely on developing logic and power management chipsets for handheld PCs and personal digital assistants. In late 1998, the company introduced the Vadem Clio, a PDA utilizing an NEC MIPS VR4111 processor. That same year, Sharp rebranded this model as the Mobilon TriPad.

Confronted with financial difficulties in 1998, Vadem underwent a restructuring in 1999 following Microsoft's acquisition of a stake. This reorganization split the company into four separate units and led to the establishment of Vadem, LLC. After transferring its patents to spin-off companies, all of which eventually ceased operations, Vadem, LLC was dissolved in 2013.

See also

• Original equipment manufacturer