About ROHM

Company History

ROHM - up for the challenge in any era -

ROHM was established in Kyoto in 1958 as initially a manufacturer of small electronic components. In 1967 production was expanded to include transistors and diodes, and in 1969 ICs and other semiconductor products were added to the lineup. Two years later (in 1971), going against conventional Japanese business culture, the company entered the US market by establishing a sales office and IC design center in Silicon Valley. Through the hard work and passionate dedication of its young work force, business flourished, causing the industry to take notice. ROHM's expansion overseas soon became a template for other companies and eventually was accepted as common business practice.

• Founding - 1969
• 1970 - 1979
• 1980 - 1989
• 1990 - 1999
• 2000 - 2009
• 2010 -

1954 - 1969 Establishment

1954	Toyo Electronics Industry established. Carbon film resistors developed and marketed.
1958	Toyo Electronics Industry Corporation.
1962	In-house production of automatic resistor assembly machine inaugurated.
1963	Metal-firm resistors developed and marketed.
1965	Quality control program introduced. Published "Visible Music History" (record of all volumes)
1966	In-house Standardization Committee organized. ROHM Wako Co., Ltd. established.
1967	Transistors and switching diode developed and marketed.
1968	Completed production of diode arrays and diode matrices.
1969	Began development of ICs. ROHM Apollo Co., Ltd. established.

1970 - 1979 Overseas Expansion

1970	Computers for processing business data introduced. ROHM Logistec Co., Ltd. established. Established U.S. subsidiary company in California. Published "History of Musical Instruments" (record of all volumes)
1971	Started research and development of integrated circuits (ICs) in Silicon Valley. ROHM Electronics GmbH established. Transistor developed and marketed.
1972	ROHM Korea Corporation established.
1973	LEDs and network resistors developed and marketed.
1974	Thermal printheads developed and marketed. ROHM Electronics (H.K.) Co., Ltd. established.
1976	Square-plante chip resistors developed and marketed.
1977	Rectifying diodes developed and marketed.
1979	Corporate trademark is changed from R.ohm to ROHM. ROHM Electronics Asia Pte. Ltd. (RES DIVISION) established. Began "ROHM's Diary of Kyoto Natural History" for company public relations as a newspaper column.

1980 - 1989 The path to integrated semiconductor manufacturing

1980	Zener diodes developed and marketed.
1981	Registered company name is changed from Toyo Electronics Industry Corporation to ROHM Co., Ltd. Began development of MOS ICs. ROHM Fukuoka Co., Ltd. established. Published "Asian Music" (recorded tapes of all volumes)
1982	Semiconductor Research Center is completed. Digital transistors developed and marketed.
1983	Listed on the Second Section of the Osaka Security Exchange. Band switching diodes developed and marketed.
1984	First in the world to succeed in the practical industrial use of laser diodes with MBE methodology. ROHM Amagi Co., Ltd. established.
1985	4-bit and 8-bit microcontrollers using original CPUs developed.
1986	Listed on the First Section of the Osaka Stock Exchange. Research and Development Center opened (presently LSI Development Center). Memory ICs developed and marketed. Capacitors marketed. Published public relations magazine "ROHM's Diary of Kyoto Natural History."
1987	A manufacturing plant is established in Thailand (presently RIST). ROHM Electronics Taiwan Co., Ltd. established.
1988	Obtained basic patent of flash memory in the USA. ROHM Mechatech Co., Ltd. established. Narita Giken Co., Ltd. established.
1989	Listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Received PM award (TPM) LSI Research Center opened. Liquid crystal process technology established and products marketed. A manufacturing plant is established in Philippines (presently REPI). ROHM-Wako Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. established. ROHM Electronics (U.K.) Limited established. Hosted "ROHM's Music Festival with Play Bach." Published public relations magazine "ROHM's Diary of Kyoto Natural History II."

1990 - 1999 The challenge of new technologies and new sectors

1990	America Technology Center opened. Began sales of LED message boards. ROHM Apollo Device Co., Ltd. established.
1991	Second Research and Development Center opened. Established ROHM Music Foundation. Hosted "Young Artist Concert."
1992	Completely abolished use of specific-fluorocarbons (all companies in ROHM Group) MTP microcontroller with built-in flash memory developed. Hosted "Contemporary & Classics."
1993	Developed large size LCD public displays with a distinctive wide view angle. ROHM Electronics Dalian Co., Ltd. established. A manufacturing plant is established in Tianjin, China (presently RSC). ROHM Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. established. ROHM Mechatech Philippines, INC. established. Hosted "Kyoto International Music Students Festival" (held annually). Hosted "Keith Jarret plays Mozart."
1994	Obtained ISO9001 certification. Developed a single-chip LSI for use in spread spectrum communications, the next generation of wireless transfer. Co-sponsored "The New York Trio." Began "ROHM's Diary of Science of the tales of old Japan" for company P.R as a newspaper column.
1995	Second LSI Research Center opened. Jointly developed a 100,000 gate FPGA using flash technology together with the Zycad Corporation of the United States. Developed IC with a built-in modulation-demodulation circuitry for IrDA infrared data communication. Hosted "ROHM Lyric Selection Mari Kumamoto concert" (held annually). Co-sponsored "National Paris Orchestra." Published "ROHM's Diary of Kyoto Natural History (Sound Report Edition)" CD-ROM.
1996	ROHM Wako Device Co., Ltd. established ROHM Electronics Korea Corporation established. ROHM Electronics (Philippines) Sales Corporation established. Co-sponsored "Scala Philharmonic Orchestra."
1997	Yokohama Technology Center opened. Started mass production of red laser diodes for DVDs. ROHM Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. established. ROHM Electronics (France) S.A.S. established. Co-sponsored "Biwako Mainichi Marathon." Co-sponsored "Moscow Broadcast Symphony Orchestra." Co-sponsored "Prague Symphony Orchestra." Published "ROHM's Diary of Kyoto Natural History (Light Report Edition)" CD-ROM.
1998	Obtained ISO14001 Environmental Management System Certification. VLSI Research Center opened. Developed ROHM's unique Dual-Cell system EEPROM. Developed highly reliable Schottky barrier diodes with both a low VF and a low IR. Co-sponsored "Inter Prefectural Men? Ekiden." Co-sponsored "Super Trio: Ashkenazy, Zukerman, Harell." Co-sponsored "New Japan Philharmonic Special" concert, conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Began "ROHM's Diary of Science of the tales" for company P.R as a newspaper column.
1999	Kyoto Technology Center opened. LSI Development Center opened. Hong Kong Technology Center opened. Developed an IC for mobile phones. Increased growth in development of the world's finest quality ZnO single crystal film in cooperation with Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL). ROHM Hamamatsu Co., Ltd. established. ROHM Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. established. Co-sponsored "Kyoto City Half Marathon." Co-sponsored "St. Petersburg Stat Philharmony Orchestra." Co-sponsored "Alfred Brendel Piano Recital."

2000 - 2009 Aiming towards further growth

2000	Europe Technology Center opened. Developed new clock generator IC with the highest range of S/N and low jitter for DVD. Developed REAL SOCKET™ a revolutionary concept in system LSI design technology. ROHM Semiconductor (China) Co.,Ltd. established. Co-sponsored "Seiji Ozawa Opera Project." Co-sponsored "The Opening Concert of Autumn Kyoto Music Festival."
2001	ROHM Co., Ltd. (Shin yokohama) opened. Developed the technology (S!PWM×2) of silent disc driver for CD and DVD drives. Developed high-power 180-mW laser diode as an optimum solution for ·32 and faster CD-RW drives. Started forestation project in Australia named "ROHM Forest." Contribution for Ritsumeikan University ROHM Plaza.
2002	Optical Device Research Center opened.
2003	LSI Test Technology Center opened. Developed LVDS interface LSI for flat panel display. ROHM Electronics Trading (Dalian) Co., Ltd. established. ROHM Tsukuba Co., Ltd. established. Contribution for Doshisha ROHM Plaza. Co-sponsored "Kyoto Student Festival."
2004	Shanghai Technology Center opened. Taiwan Technology Center opened. Developed REAL PLATFORM, a new platform design environment for system LSI. Started the full-scale operation of the 300mm wafer process line. Started mass production of the 130nm CMOS LSIs. A Selection of Japanese 78rpm Recording I.
2005	Korea Technology Center opened. Thermal printheads built with a proprietary Step-Free structure was developed. As a result, this Step-Free structure demonstrated high durability. A thyristor was developed and mass production began. A ROHM Plaza research facility was donated to Kyoto University. Trees were planted around the circumference of the head office. Co-sponsored "Seiji Ozawa Opera Project" in China.
2006	Shenzhen Technology Center opened. Nagoya Design Center opened. The world's highest performance silicon carbide (SiC) FET with a high voltage of 900V and low ON resistance of 3.1.Ω/cm² was developed. ROHM Integrated Systems (Thailand) Co., Ltd. established. ROHM Electronics (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. established. Hosted "ROHM Music Foundation, Music Seminar Member's Chamber Music Concert 2006" Co-sponsored "HUNGARIAN NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA" A Selection of Japanese 78rpm Recording II.
2007	ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation to Laboratory. Developed an ultra-compact LED "PICOLEDTM[picoled]" featuring both the smallest volume and area in the world. A Selection of Japanese 78rpm Recording III. The industry's first IEEE802.1X-compatible baseband IC for wireless LAN applications.
2008	Logo changed (9/17/08) to "ROHM SEMICONDUCTOR" to mark our 50th anniversary. Acquired OKI SEMICONDUCTOR Co., Ltd. Developed the world's first non-volatile logic technology with zero standby power consumption. Participated in a joint venture for the developement of organic EL panels for illumination. Developed a trace blood measurement biochip.
2009	The first low ohmic SiC ternch MOSFET. Seamless LED Base Lamps(Winner of the 2009 Good Design Award). Market leader Kionix, Inc., becomes a subsidiary of ROHM. A SiC supplier becomes a ROHM subsidiary.

2010 - Toward the next 50 years

2010	Developed the world's first laser diode that can control beam direction. Began mass production of SiC Schottky barrier diodes. Retrofitted the Kyoto Technology Center and Business Center with green technology, including ROHM LED lighting products, high efficiency air conditioners, and a garden rooftop. Developed a chipset and reference board for Intel®'s next-generation embedded processor. Acquired MARUZEN ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
2011	Established ROHM Semiconductor India Pvt. Ltd. Constructed the Tsinghua-ROHM  Electronic Engineering Hall at Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) Established sales companies in Brazil
2012	Established the ROHM-Tsinghua Joint Research Center ROHM Kyoto Station Building received the Natural Resources and Energy Secretary Award for Energy Conservation Began mass production of Full SiC Power Modules Developed LDO regulators for automotive applications featuring an industry-low quiescent current of 6uA (80% less than conventional products) Began mass production of the world's smallest transistor package (VML0806) Developed the world's smallest Zener diodes (0402 size) Became a promoter for EnOcean Alliance, a next-generation wireless communication standard promotions organization utilizing energy harvesting technology Began mass production of the industry's first SiC MOS module with no Schottky barrier diode
2013	Co-developed a low power consumption power management IC for Intel's next-generation Atom™ processors (Bay Trail) for tablets Developed a hybrid MOS device that combines the advantages of MOSFETs and IGBTs Acquired the naming rights for Kyoto Kaikan and renamed it ROHM Theater Kyoto Started mass production of the RASMID™ series of the world's smallest products featuring breakthrough miniaturization, developed utilizing new process methods Developed the industry's first AC/DC converter IC with PFC control functionality
2014	Established a design center in India Launched the industry's first MEMS foundry business for supplying high accuracy thin-film piezoelectric elements Developed the first Wi-SUN-compatible universal wireless communication module ideal for Smart Communities Developed high power ultra-low-ohmic shunt resistors optimized for current detection in automotive and industrial applications Developed the world's smallest transistors (VML0604) that reduce mounting area by 50% over conventional products
2015	The Industry's First AC/DC Converter Control IC for SiC Drive The First Wireless Charging Chipset Compliant with the Qi Medium Power Standard (<15W) The World's First Trench-Type SiC MOSFET Acquired partial assets of Renesas Semiconductor Manufacturing's Shiga Factory (8-inch wafer fab line) Acquired digital power supply control IC pioneer Powervation (presently ROHM POWERVATION Ltd.)