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Fisker Inc.

Fisker Inc. – Develops And Sells Electrification Technology.

Fisker Inc. is a company that produces automobiles. The business develops and sells electrification technology, zero-emission automobiles, and electric vehicles. This automaker was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in California, USA.

About The Company

Fisker Inc is an American company that manufactures electric vehicles (EV). The Fisker Karma was manufactured by Fisker Automotive, which was replaced by Fisker Inc. The Fisker Ocean, an electrical sport utility vehicle (SUV) being developed by Fisker Inc., is anticipated to go into production in late 2022. It has an estimated range of 300-350 miles (480-560 km). Fisker was also developing solid-state battery technology that could provide up to 500 miles of range with a one-minute charge until 2021. In July 2020, Fisker Inc. announced a merger with Spartan Energy Acquisition, a SPAC supported by private equity company Apollo Global Management, and an IPO on the NY Stock Exchange. The company concluded the reversed merger on October 30, 2020.

History

Henrik Fisker and Bernhard in 2007 established Fisker Automotive. One of the first premium plug-in EVs in production, the Fisker Karma, was created by the business and debuted in 2008 before the first deliveries were made in 2011. After about 2,000 of the cars had been sold globally, production was halted in 2012 as a result of the insolvency of its battery provider, A123 Systems. Wanxiang Group acquired the assets of Fisker Automotive in 2014, and the new business was given the name Karma Automotive. The Fisker brand and trademarks were kept by Henrik Fisker.

Fisker Inc.
Image source: pxcrush.net

The creation of Fisker Inc., an American manufacturer designing and manufacturing cutting-edge electric vehicles with a more extended range, autonomous driving capability, and superior battery tech, with Geeta Fisker as president and CFO, was announced by chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker on October 3, 2016. Fisker first announced in July 2016 that he intended to create an entirely connected electric vehicle with autonomous driving capabilities and a beautiful exterior. Fisker Inc. unveiled the design and technical details of the upcoming electric car, the Fisker EMotion, on October 31, 2016. The Orbit, a truly automated, connected, electric shuttle destined for smart cities, public airports, and campuses, was introduced by the corporation in November 2017. In that same month, Fisker Inc. declared that it had submitted patent applications for designs of flexible solid-state batteries, with mass production of the batteries beginning in 2020. The business revealed its plans to create a bulk market for all-electric luxury SUVs in September 2018.

In 2019, the company released the official Fisker Flexee mobile application for iOS and Android. Customers can plan test drives for the Fisker Ocean e-SUV and make reservations through the application.

Vehicles

Fisker Inc has launched various electronic vehicles in the automotive industry. The Fisker Orbit, an autonomous electric shuttle connected, and intended for smart cities, was unveiled in 2017. For this product, Fisker Inc. collaborated with Protean Electric, a manufacturer of motor technology, as well as Jack Wong of the Chinese business Hakim Unique Group. A few of its popular products include Fisker Alaska, Fisker EMotion, Fisker PEAR, and Fisker Ocean.

Founder – Henrik Fisker

Henrik Fisker founded Fisker Inc in 2007. Henrik Fisker is a renowned designer and entrepreneur. Henrik is known for taking risks, embracing innovation, and defying conventional wisdom. He is a top automobile designer, entrepreneur, inventor, innovator, mentor, and brand ambassador. The BMW Z8, Rocket, Destino V8, and Force 1 are among his most famous works. He has previously served on the boards of Aston Martin, BMW Designworks USA, Fisker Automotive, and Fisker Coachbuild. He has served in a number of honorary capacities, including as a judge at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and as an advisor and judges for automotive design at the Royal College of Art, UK, in 2010.

Silicon Graphics

Silicon Graphics – Founded By Professor From Standford University.

The American company, Silicon Graphics was founded late in 1981 in Mountain View, California. SG was built as a manufacturer and producer of high computer hardware and software products. The brand of Silicon Graphics was renamed after it went bankrupt and Rackable Systems acquired it. The assets of the company were split and two new brand names emerged but none of them were able to acquire their original position in the market. Eventually, Silicon Graphics lost its existence in the market under its original name. Back when the company was founded, its initial product was 3G graphics computer workstations but eventually, priorities shifted with the evolution of the technology market. 

Establishment of Silicon Graphics

Jim Clark is the founder of Silicon Graphics and he was working at Standford University before founding the company. The foundation of the company started at the university as the early systems used by SG were based on the Geometry Machine developed by Clark and Marc Hannah. After developing this machine, Clark shortly left his position at the university as an electrical engineering associate professor. He started working on founding SG along with seven graduate students from the university and a few research staff. The main people who were involved in laying the foundation for the company are Kurt Akeley, David J. Brown, Tom Davis, Rocky Rhodes, Marc Hannah, Herb Kuta, and Mark Grossman along with Abbey Silverstone and a few others.

So, from 1982 the company became operational and Ed McCracken served as the CEO of the company from 1884 to 1997. During these thirteen years, the annual revenue of SG grew from $5.4 million to $3.7 billion. Though the annual revenue of the company was rising, SG faced a decline in demand for its product line during the late 1990s. There were several challenges in the marketplace and the share price was also falling. Due to this McCracken was replaced by Richard Belluzzo and under his leadership, the company started accelerating again. During this time, the company was trying to shift its main product line which also led to the creation of a new logo (making SG to SGI). All these initiatives taken by the company didn’t help much in its net growth and in 2005 the company was delisted from NYSE. 

Silicon Graphics
Image source: i.pinimg.com

Ups and Downs

To cope with the immense financial and growth crisis, the company hired Alix Partners in 2005 to advise the company on how to return back to profitability. The best way to deal with the NYSE delisting was a reverse stock split. Next year, the company appointed Dennis McKenna as the new CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors. In the same year, the company also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the company itself and its US subsidiaries. It also decided to end the production of the MIPS/IRIX line and the IRIX operating system. By October 2006, the company emerged from bankruptcy protection and it was again listed on NYSE but under a new symbol. As the company eventually stabilized, it reentered the virtualization market in 2008. 

Unfortunately, in December 2008, the entire phase of delisting was repeated once again as the company share price declined under the minimum requirement. In 2009, the company decided to sell all its assets to Rackable Systems for $25 million. Ultimately, the deal was finalized for $42.5 million and Rackable Systems announced that they would adopt the “Silicon Graphics International” global name and brand. In 2016, Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquired Silicon Graphics International. 

Jim Clark – Founder of Silicon Graphics

Jim Clark (full name James Henry Clark) is a famous computer scientist who founded several companies apart from Silicon Graphics. His other ventures include myCFO, Netscape, and Healtheon. Clark’s main contribution to the research field led to the development of high-performance computing systems for the fast rendering of 3D computer images. He went to the University of Utah and after completing his Ph.D., he started working at NYIT’s Computer Graphics Lab. 

United Microelectronics Corporation

United Microelectronics Corporation – Taiwan’s First Semiconductor Company.

United Microelectronics Corporation is a chipmaker based in Taiwan with around a $10 billion market capitalization. It sells CMOS wafers, memory chips, and high-voltage integrated circuits, among other things. UMC has offices in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, the United States, and Europe, with over 17,000 employees worldwide.

About United Microelectronics Corporation

The silicon foundry business was where United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) established its niche. UMC is a leading silicon foundry, or contract semiconductor maker, trailing only archival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Design, engineering, manufacturing, packing, sorting, and testing are among the company’s production services. It supplies complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor logic wafers, mixed-signal wafers, radiofrequency complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor wafers, embedded memory products, high voltage integrated circuits, and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensors through its semiconductor foundry. UMC has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China, Europe, the United States, and Singapore, and it continues to expand capacity and invest in sophisticated manufacturing technology. Taiwan is the company’s largest market, accounting for 33% of net sales. Singapore (24 percent), the United States (12 percent), and China are the other key markets (9 percent ).

United Microelectronics Corporation
Image source: www.taipeitimes.com

UMC is aggressively developing internationally. The corporation invested $48 million in a subsidiary of Fujitsu Semiconductor, which has a 12-inch wafer manufacturing facility in Japan. In Xiamen, UMC has formed a joint venture with the city government of Xiamen and the state-owned Fujian Electronics and Information Group to establish a semiconductor fabrication plant. Starting in 2015, UMC will invest $1.35 billion in the initiative over five years. In January 2015, the company bought a 33 percent share in Xiamen-based chipmaker United Semiconductor as part of the plan. Taiwan’s first semiconductor company, UMC, was formed in 1980. Since 2012, Yen Po-wen, who joined UMC in 1986, has served as CEO.

Manufacturing Diversification

With numerous modern 300mm fabs in operation, UMC is a foundry production leader. Since 2002, Fab 12A in Tainan, Taiwan, has been producing client products in volume and is currently producing 14 and 28nm products. Phases 1&2, 3&4, and 5&6 make up the multi-phase complex, which is essentially three independent fabs. The entire monthly production capacity of Fab 12A is currently above 87,000 wafers. Fab 12i, UMC’s second 300mm fab, is located in Pasir Ris Wafer Park in Singapore. With a monthly capacity of 50,000 wafers, this second-generation 300mm plant is also in volume production. United Semi, UMC’s third 300mm fab in Xiamen, China, began volume production in Q4 2016. When fully equipped, United Semi’s overall design capacity is 50,000 wafers per month. In October of this year, UMC bought USJC in Japan. This 300mm fab in Mie Prefecture has a monthly capacity of 33,000 wafers for logic and specialty processes down to 40nm. UMC provides reliable and diversified manufacturing with leading production efficiency, thanks to its seven 200mm fabs and one 150mm specialized fab.

John Hsuan and Robert Tsao

From 1979 to 1981, Mr. Tsao was appointed Vice Chairman of the Electronics Research & Service Organization (ERSO), where he played an important role. He was a driving force behind the establishment of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), where he oversaw the development of Taiwan’s first integrated circuit manufacturing line, which later became the foundation for United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), a semiconductor contract manufacturer that produced chips based on the designs of its customers.

John Hsuan, who is soft-spoken and aloof at times, has been a driving force behind UMC’s recent metamorphosis from a small Taiwanese chip producer to a major IC wafer foundry. UMC was one of the first foundries to implement a 0.25-micron process, is a pioneer in 0.18-micron technology, and aims to ship products with copper interconnects early next year. UMC is the world’s second-largest pure-play foundry, behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., with sales expected to increase from $1.3 billion in 1998 to $1.75 billion this year.