Silicon Forest
Silicon Forest is a
The name is analogous to
History
Silicon Forest can refer to all the technology companies in Oregon,[2] but initially referred to Washington County on Portland’s west side. First used in a Japanese company’s press release dating to 1981, Lattice Semiconductor trademarked the term in 1984 but does not use the term in its marketing materials.[2] Lattice’s founder is sometimes mentioned as the person who came up with the term.[2]
The high-tech industry in the Portland area dates back to at least the 1940s, with
Unlike other regions with a "silicon" appellation, semiconductors truly are the heart of Oregon's tech industry.
Intel's headquarters remain in Santa Clara, California, but in the 1990s the company began moving its most advanced technical operations to Oregon. Its Ronler Acres campus eventually became its most advanced anywhere, and Oregon is now Intel's largest operating hub. In late 2012, Intel had close to 17,000 employees in Oregon—more than anywhere else the company operated;[7] by 2022, the number had grown to about 22,000.[8]
Companies and subsidiaries
The following is a sample of past and present notable companies in the Silicon Forest. They may have been founded in the Silicon Forest or have a major subsidiary there. A list of Portland tech startups (technology companies founded in Portland) is provided separately.
Current
- Act-On
- Adtran (after acquired a startup named ”SmartRG”)[9]
- Aistock
- Airbnb
- Elemental Technologies)
- Ambric (acquired by Nethra Imaging in April 2009)
- Analog Devices
- Apple Inc. (Software Engineering in Vancouver, WA. This was previously the Claris products group) and a new R&D facility around Hillsboro.[10]
- Arris Group (via acquisition of C-COR)
- ASML Holding
- Atos
- Autodesk Inc
- Biotronik
- Brandlive
- Cambia Health Solutions (HealthSparq, Hubbub, and SpendWell)
- Cascade Microtech
- CD Baby
- CollegeNET
- Consumer Cellular[11]
- DAT Solutions
- Digimarc[11]
- eBay[12]
- Electro Scientific Industries
- EPSON[13]
- Expensify[14][15]
- Extensis
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (via acquisition of FEI Company)
- FLIR Systems
- ForgeRock
- GemStone Systems
- Genentech[16]
- Grass Valley
- Hewlett-Packard
- IBM (by acquisition of Sequent)
- InFocus[17]
- Intel[18]
- Integra Telecom[11]
- IP Fabrics
- IXIA
- Jaguar Land Rover[19]
- Janrain
- Kryptiq Corporation[20]
- Kyocera[21]
- LaCie
- Laika[22]
- Lam Research (through merging with Novellus Systems)
- Lattice Semiconductor
- Lightspeed Systems
- Linear Technology
- Logitech
- Maxim Integrated Products
- McAfee
- Mentor Graphics[17]
- Mozilla[23]
- Microchip Technology (purchased Fujitsu old facility)
- Microsoft, especially for hardware engineering design center[24]
- New Relic (Engineering Headquarters)
- Nike, Inc. (Consumer Digital Division)
- Nvidia Corporation
- NuScale Power
- OpenSesame Inc
- ON Semiconductor[25]
- Oracle Corporation (by acquisition of Sun Microsystems)
- Oregon Scientific
- Panic Software
- PacStar
- Phoseon Technology[26]
- Pivotal Labs
- Pixelworks
- Planar Systems
- Pop Art, Inc.
- Puppet[27]
- Qorvo
- RadiSys Corporation
- Razorfish
- Rentrak
- RFPIO
- Rivos[28]
- Rohde & Schwarz
- Rockwell Collins
- Sage Software(by the acquisition of Timberline)
- Salesforce.com
- Sensory, Inc.
- SEH America[29]
- Sharp Corporation[30]
- Silicon Labs
- Siltronic
- Simple[31]
- Shimadzu Corp.
- Skyworks (by the acquisition of Avnera)[32]
- Smarsh
- Sellgo
- SurveyMonkey
- Squarespace
- Synopsys
- Tektronix
- Tripwire
- Urban Airship[33]
- Vacasa
- Vape-Jet[34]
- VeriWave[35]
- Vernier Software & Technology[11]
- Vevo[36]
- Wacom (North American Headquarters are based in Portland)
- WaferTech (TSMCsubsidiary)
- Webtrends
- WebMD
- Welch Allyn
- Workday, Inc
- Xerox[37]
- ZoomInfo
Former
- BiiN (defunct)
- Central Point Software (defunct)
- ClearEdge Power[38]
- Etec Systems, Inc. (acquired by Applied Materials)
- Floating Point Systems (defunct)
- Fujitsu (factory closed, sold to Microchip Technology)[39]
- Jive Software (acquired & closed)[40]
- MathStar (defunct)
- Merix Corporation (acquired by Viasystems)
- Microsoft's Surface Hub R&D (closed down)[41]
- ARRIS in 2007. CommScopeacquired ARRIS in 2019, and closed the Beaverton office in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- NEC (factory closed)[39]
- Open Source Development Labs (defunct)
- OHSUin 2001; Washington County campus closed in 2014)
- Sequent Computer Systems (purchased by IBM in 1993) Sequent, founded by a team that included three Intel VPs and 15 other employees, also mostly from Intel, made a major contribution to multiprocessing and was largely responsible for the demise of large minicomputers, which could be replaced by much smaller and cheaper micro-processor-based multiprocessor systems. It went public in 1987 and was beginning to also encroach on the market for large mainframe transaction processing systems when IBM bought it out.
- SolarWorld[42]
- SunPower (in former SolarWorld facility)[42][43]
See also
- List of places with "Silicon" names
References
- ^ Alpern, Peter (October 4, 2010). "Portland Cultivates Future as Hub for Manufacturing Alternative Energy". IndustryWeek. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ a b c Rogoway, Mike (April 9, 2006). Bizz blog: Silicon Forest. The Oregonian.
- ^ a b Manaton, Michael E. (August 4, 1994). "Tektronix began 'Silicon Forest' boom". The Oregonian (MetroWest edition).
- ^ G.B. Dodds, C.E. Wollner & M.M. Lee, The Silicon Forest, Oregon Historical Society Press, 1990, pp. 46-55.
- ^ "Silicon Forest Universe". Portland State University: The Institute for Portland Metropolitan Studies. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (July 26, 2012). "Investment in Oregon tech companies heats up, but employment hasn't bounced back". The Oregonian.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (October 25, 2012). "Intel makes a bet on the future, and Oregon, with massive Hillsboro expansion". The Oregonian.
- OPB. Archivedfrom the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
- ^ "ADTRAN Acquires SmartRG—Leading Provider of Connected Home Software Platforms & Cloud Services". December 18, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (May 30, 2018). "Apple quietly opens Oregon engineering lab, poaches from Intel". The Oregonian. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Rogoway, Mike (September 2010). "Silicon Forest 25 - 2010" (PDF). The Oregonian. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
- ^ Cathy Cheney (November 26, 2014). "Cool Spaces: Inside eBay's growing Portland office, which has a personality all its own". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
- ^ About Epson Portland Inc. Archived October 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Epson Portland Inc. Retrieved on October 8, 2007.
- ^ "Expensify - Preaccounting & Spend Management Software". Expensify - Expense Management.
- ^ Spencer, Malia (August 25, 2017). "Why Expensify Picked Portland". Portland Business Journal.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (April 5, 2010). "Genentech opens in Hillsboro, fueling Oregon's biotech aspirations". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
- ^ a b Tims, Dana (December 8, 2005). "Metro West Neighbors: Emerging suburb built on silicon". The Oregonian. p. 9.
- ^ Suh, Elizabeth (October 28, 2007). "Intel's impact on community helps other businesses thrive". The Oregonian.
- OregonLive.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (June 15, 2010). "Kryptiq sets move as it adds employees". The Oregonian.
- ^ "Kyocera opens $10M Vancouver facility". The Columbian. April 20, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (May 17, 2006). "Laika's place in the Silicon Forest". The Oregonian.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (July 18, 2013). "Mozilla will expand Portland office, add staff and lease its own space". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (January 27, 2021). "Microsoft poaches Intel VP for big new Hillsboro engineering site". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (May 14, 2010). "Chip manufacturers plan to grow, Hillsboro rebounds: Silicon Forest week in review". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
- ^ The Oregonian (March 12, 2010). "2010 Oregon Technology Awards finalists named". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
- ^ Siemers, Erik (November 29, 2011). "Google, Cisco, VMware invest $8.5M in Puppet Labs". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ "Apple lawsuit against chipmaking startup Rivos alleges theft of trade secrets". SiliconANGLE. May 2, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "About SEH America". Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- ^ "Locations". Sharp Laboratories of America.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Malcolm, Hadley (December 14, 2015). "Wow: Banking with no branches, no fees, handwritten thank-yous". USA Today. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
- ^ "Skyworks - Home". skyworksinc.com.
- ^ Fritz, Justin (November 8, 2011). "Why App Developers Are Hitching a Ride on Urban Airship". Wall St. Daily. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "Vape-Jet". vape-jet.com. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ Venture Capitalists loosen purse strings for startups Portland Business Journal. Retrieved on July 23, 2010
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (July 27, 2017). "Vevo, music video titan, grows Portland engineering outpost". The Oregonian.
- ^ Kosseff, Jeffrey (May 14, 2002). "Xerox's Wilsonville unit continues to make strides". The Oregonian. p. C1.
- ^ Siemers, Erik (December 18, 2009). "ClearEdge hums along". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
- ^ a b Read, Richard (March 7, 2004). "Racing the world". The Oregonian.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (May 1, 2018). "Jive Software: A Cautionary Tale". The Oregonian.
- ^ Marum, Anna (July 11, 2017). "Microsoft to close Wilsonville plant, lay off 124 workers". OregonLive.
- ^ a b Pursinger, Geoff (October 15, 2018). "Here comes the sun: SunPower takes over SolarWorld plant". Portland Tribune. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
- ^ Rogoway, Mike (January 7, 2021). "SunPower will close former SolarWorld factory in Hillsboro, lay off 170". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
External links
- Wollner, Craig. "Silicon Forest". The Oregon Encyclopedia.
- The Oregonian's Silicon Forest Blog
- Portland Tech portal at AboutUs.org
- Silicon Florist: Coverage of the web-based startup scene