Company Pedigree
Ascendant Companies | Descendent Companies | ||
Company | Comments | Company | Comments |
MOS Technology | Bought MOS Technology in October 1976, which was renamed the Commodore Semiconductor Group (CSG). | GMT Microelectronics Corporation | Former CSG management bought the chip making assets of the bankrupt CBM in 1995. |
Amiga, Inc. | In 1984, Commodore out bid Atari and bought Amiga, Inc. | Western Design Center | Founded by Bill Mensch in 1978, after a brief 1 year stint at Integrated Circuit Engineering (ICE) |
Company Overview
Originally a maker of typewriters and later calculators, Commodore is best known for the Commodore PET, VIC and Amiga microcomputers. CBM acquired MOS Technologies to provide chip making capabilities for the PET microcomputers. MOS was renamed to the Commodore Semiconductor Group (CSG). Chips made by CSG may carry one of three different logos, the MOS logo, the CBM logo, or the CSG logo. Amiga, Inc. was later acquired in its infancy and is the design source of the Commodore Amiga Microcomputer. Chips used in the Amiga were produced by CSG, with the exception of the Motorola 68000 MPU.
In 1990’s CSG began work as silicon foundry, making chips for other companies. In 1992, CSG ceased chip making operations and outsourced its own fab work to companies like HP and Korea’s Anam.
Chip Identification
CBM Chips
See MOS Technology for 6500/8500 related chips
See Amiga for Amiga related chips