General Micro-electronics (GMe) was an American

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

company in the 1960s. It was formed by three former members of Fairchild Semiconductor, and is thus one of the "Fairchildren". It was acquired in 1966 by

Philco-Ford Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased by Ford and, from 196 ...

and became their Microelectronics Division. With

Frank Wanlass Frank Marion Wanlass (May 17, 1933 in Thatcher, AZ – September 9, 2010 in Santa Clara, California) was an American electrical engineer. He is best known for inventing CMOS (complementary MOS) logic with Chih-Tang Sah in 1963. CMOS has since ...

as director of research and engineering, GMe was the first company to design, fabricate, and sell

MOS MOS or Mos may refer to: Technology * MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor * Mathematical Optimization Society * Model output statistics, a weather-forecasting technique * MOS (filmm ...

integrated circuits An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

. The first MOS chips were small-scale integrated chips for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

satellites. In 1964, Wanlass demonstrated a single-chip 16-bit shift register he designed, with an incredible (for the time) 120 transistors on a single chip. That same year, the company entered an agreement to convert a

Victor Comptometer Victor Technology LLC (also known as Victor Calculator) is a supplier of printing calculators, scientific calculators, financial calculators, basic calculators, and desktop accessories with headquarters in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Victor products ...

tube-based

electronic calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...

to all-IC form, the

Victor 3900 The Victor 3900 is the first electronic calculator to have been built entirely of integrated circuits (ICs). For its era, the 3900 is extremely advanced; it has a cathode ray tube screen to produce a 5-line display, has separate memory for storin ...

, with a planned introduction in early 1966. The task proved to be much more difficult than expected, and GMe was left almost insolvent. The company was purchased by

, at which time Victor gave up on the product. They remarketed the system as the Philco 3900, but by the time it was ready for market less-expensive alternative had appeared. Several members of the GMe team would go on to found

Electronic Arrays Electronic Arrays, Inc. was a United States integrated circuit (IC) manufacturer of the 1960s and 70s. The company originated when Jim McMullen and other employees of General Microelectronics left to form McMullen Associates, which was later ren ...

and produce a six-chip calculator system that was successful in the early 1970s.

References

Semiconductor devices Defunct semiconductor companies of the United States Electronics companies established in 1964 American companies established in 1964 Computer-related introductions in 1964 1966 mergers and acquisitions {{electronics-stub