Wolfson Microelectronics

Infobox_Company
company_name = Wolfson Microelectronics
company_
company_type = Public (lse2|WLF)
foundation = Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (1984)
location = Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom,
key_people = David Milne Co-founder
Jim Reid Co-founder
Dave Shrigley CEO
num_employees = 300 (October 2006)
industry = Semiconductor,
Digital signal processing
homepage = [http://www.wolfsonmicro.com www.wolfsonmicro.com]

Wolfson Microelectronics (lse2|WLF) is a Scottish microelectronics and fabless semiconductor corporation specialising in signal processing chips for the consumer electronics market. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, with engineering and sales offices scattered throughout the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Europe, Wolfson is a significant player in the Scottish economy.

History

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. [cite web|url=http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/whatsnew/press/press/PI99/|title=Wolfson Press Release] 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. At this time, Wolfson had just announced a lowering of its market cap by £200m, although Milne's sign-off was said to be part of a pre-planned departure and was not provoked by the downturn. [cite news|url=http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=979&id=1740782006|title=Wolfson founder to quit after American named as his successor|publisher="The Scotsman"|accessdate=2007-06-26|date=November 24, 2006] Reid held positions as Chief Technical Officer and Business Development Directory with the firm, and also holds a visiting professorship at the University of Glasgow.

In 2006, Milne was declared Entrepreneur of the Year by the CBI, and Wolfson named Company of the Year. [cite news|url=http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=979&id=1782332006|title=Chip hooray as Wolfson scoops double honour|publisher="The Scotsman"|accessdate=2007-06-26|date=December 1, 2006] After suffering as the media player market began to slow, Wolfson reported (as of 2007) improved results in the first quarter. [cite news|url=http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=979&id=162832007|title=Wolfson chief signs off on a high note|publisher="The Scotsman"|accessdate=2007-06-26|date=January 31, 2007] However, the loss of a contract to produce components for Apple's iPod, coupled with the 'credit crunch' and general financial slowdown resulting from the subprime mortgage crisis led to serious falls in profits, with share prices dropping 40% in the 2008 year to August and redundancies made. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7530555.stm|title=Job losses likely at iPhone firm|publisher="BBC News"|accessdate=2008-07-29|date=July 29, 2008] Share prices even briefly dropped below the £1 mark, a first for the company. [cite web|url=http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?type=&code=cotn%3AWLF.L&it=le&display=chart|title='Wolfson share price (last 12 months)'] .

The company's dire straits have continued, with the recent reported loss of a number of key contracts (notably Apple).cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/wolfson-slumps-on-loss-of-apple-contracts-801837.html|title='Wolfson slumps on loss of Apple contracts|publisher="The Independent"|accessdate=2008-08-23|date=March 28, 2008] .

New Management

In November 2006 David (Dave) Shrigley became the new CEO of Wolfson, his first appointment at this level: he had previously worked for Intel in the Asia-Pacific region, and held directorships elsewhere. [cite news|url=http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2006/11/24/ex-intel-man-to-head-wolfson|title='Ex-Intel Man to Head Wolfson'|publisher="The Inquirer"|accessdate=2008-08-23|date=November 24, 2006] . His American management style was initially unpopular, drawing criticism from commentators: 'he probably went a bit too US corporate at the beginning but he has put in a much better infrastructure to enable the business to grow'. [cite news|url=http://business.scotsman.com/business/Silicon-Valley-marketing-man-with.4327564.jp|title=Silicon Valley marketing man with a mission|publisher="The Scotsman"|accessdate=2008-08-23|date=July 26, 2008]

James Clerk Maxwell Award

In a joint mission with the IEEE and Royal Society of Edinburgh, Wolfson provided funding for an award, taking its name from the 19th century Scottish mathematician-physicist, of $20,000 (in addition to a medal and certificate) to be shared by up to three individuals chosen by committee. [cite web|url=http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/portal/site/tionline/menuitem.130a3558587d56e8fb2275875bac26c8/index.jsp?&pName=institute_level1_article&TheCat=1015&article=tionline/legacy/inst2007/jan07/jointawards.xml&;jsessionid=GXQkRnZngnVs7ccWpBRtTjPCysR1JyXpsJWMTZbTQg1zLPYlwkLN!250594599|title=IEEE/Royal Society of Edinburgh And Wolfson Microelectronics Create New Award|publisher=IEEE (The Institute)|accessdate=2007-07-13|date=January 11, 2007]

Customers

Wolfson products have found applications within the digital audio player market, providing the codec functionality for much of Apple Inc.'s iPod series (with the exception of the iPod shuffle [cite news|url=http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18310767|title=Wolfson Microelectronics again supplies the audio codec with headphone amp|publisher="Electronic Engineering Times"|accessdate=2007-06-26|date=January 5, 2007] and iPod classiccite news|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=1455152007|title=Wolfson sales on track as it plays down iPod blow|publisher="The Scotsman"|accessdate=2007-09-17|date=September 12, 2007] ) and Sony's PSP. [cite web|url=http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,39233638,00.htm|title=Wolfson produces mixed-signal semiconductors for the digital consumer electronics market, including chips for the iPod and Sony's PSP.|publisher=ZDNet|accessdate=2007-06-26|date=October 26, 2005] Wolfson chips have also found place in the Microsoft Xbox game console, Logitech Squeezebox Duet [cite web|url=http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_duet.html|title=Squeezebox Duet Network Music System|accessdate=2008-06-14] and the PalmOne Treo smartphone, with the Apple connection continuing with their recent iPhone [cite news|url=http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=979&id=62372007|title=Wolfson set to ring up profits from iPhone sales|publisher="The Scotsman"|accessdate=2007-06-26|date=January 12, 2007] and iPod Touch (although this contract has recently been lost).

References

External links

* [http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/ Official website]