History
Nordic Semiconductor was initially founded in 1983 as Nordic VLSI (NVLSI) in Trondheim, Norway by four post-graduates from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Initially, the company focused on the design of mixed-signal application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) within the Nordic region. In 1996, the firm went public on the Norwegian stock exchange, where it still trades as of 2023.
In 1998, NVLSI released its first wireless standard products in the 433 MHz ISM band. In 2003 NVLSI was renamed Nordic Semiconductor, often known as Nordic Semi, to reflect the company's focus on ultra-low-power wireless devices. The same year saw the release of Nordic Semiconductor's first wireless devices at 2.4 GHz. Since 2003, Nordic Semiconductor has maintained a clear focus on wireless products for the 2.4 GHz band and has seen its devices used in a wide range of branded consumer electronic products.
Nordic Semiconductor products support short-range low-power wireless through Bluetooth LE, Thread, Zigbee, and proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols; and low-power cellular IoT through LTE-M and NB-IoT.
2012 saw the release of the third generation of ultra-low-power wireless products. This family of products is named the nRF51 series, and incorporates the ARM Cortex-M series microcontrollers at their core.[4]
In 2015 Nordic Semiconductor introduced new 2.4 GHz ISM band SoC series, the nRF52 Series with ARM Cortex-M4 as their core.[5]
In February 2016, the company signed the UN Global Compact.[6][7]
In January 2018, Nordic Semiconductor introduced its first cellular product, the nRF91 series.[8] With the nRF9160 system in a package (SiP), the company expanded from Bluetooth LE and short-range radio applications into cellular network solutions. The main focus is on cellular IoT by supporting LTE-M and NB-IoT.
In November 2019, Nordic Semiconductor introduced a flagship SoC containing dual-core ARM Cortex-M33 processors and a multi-protocol radio stack (NFC/BLE/BLE mesh/Zigbee/Thread/others), the nRF53 series.[9]
In 2022, Nordic Semiconductor unveiled a low-power, dual-band Wi-Fi 6 companion chip, the nRF70 Series. ICs compatible with the nRF7002 include the nRF52 and nRF53 Bluetooth SoCs and the nRF91 cellular SiP, although Nordic claims that the device can also be used with non-Nordic host devices.[10]
In August 2023, it was announced Nordic Semiconductor had entered into an agreement to acquire the IP portfolio of San Diego-headquartered artificial intelligence and machine learning company, Atlazo.[11]
In October 2023, Nordic Semiconductor announced the second product, nRF54L Series, in its fourth generation of Bluetooth® Low Energy Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) family, the nRF54.[12]
In December 2023, Nordic Semiconductor announced that after 22 years at the helm, Svenn-Tore will step down from the role of CEO. He will be replaced by Vegard Wollan,[13] the co-inventor of the AVR microcontroller architecture.
In May 2024, the company's ESG risk rating was low at just 13.8%.[14]
