for other uses see synaptic disambiguation . synaptics type public traded as nasdaq syna industry computer hardware founded california 1986 headquarters san jose california usa key people federico faggin co founder carver mead co founder rick bergman ceo wajid ali cfo products touchpad touchstyk tddi clickpad clearpad sentrypoint pureprint touchscreen controllers ddic display drivers natural id fingerprint sensors forcepad securepad revenue 1.67 billion usd 2016 1 operating income 75.2 million usd 2016 1 net income 72.2 million usd 2016 1 number of employees 1 789 2015 2 website www.synaptics.com synaptics is a human interface solution developer . it develops and supplies intuitive human interface solutions for a range of electronic devices and products worldwide . synaptics sells its solutions to original equipment manufacturers oems for applications including smartphones tablets notebooks automobiles wearables and pc peripherals . synaptics has 1600 granted and pending patents for human interface solutions . 3 the company is headquartered in san jose california and trades on the nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol syna . contents 1 history 2 technology 3 products 4 industry alliances 5 manufacturing & supply chain 6 leadership 7 references history edit synaptics was founded in 1986 by scientists and engineers federico faggin and carver mead inspired by their interest in neural networks and their applications in technologies . faggin and mead applied their research and discoveries on neural networks and transistors on chips to build touch sensing solutions . the name of the company was derived from this combination blending synapse and electronics . during synaptics early years the laptop industry was struggling to make devices thinner because the spherical trackballs included in them required thicker device builds . synaptics founders recognized this issue and in 1992 used the pattern recognition techniques it developed to build the world s first touchpad 4 which apple adopted in 1995 . the touchpad was subsequently adopted by other leading computer manufacturers of the time including compaq and dell launching synaptics growth as a company and establishing touchpads as a standard feature in notebook pcs . as integration of the touchpad grew synaptics continued to refine its technology building a vision to integrate it with other solutions and create a range of human interface technologies to expand the company . since then synaptics solutions have been adopted in various markets beyond notebook computers . in 2005 synaptics sensor technology was featured in the world s first mobile phone to use capacitive touch technology the samsung b310 . in 2007 lg launched its prada phone featuring synaptics touch sensors marking the world s first capacitive touchscreen mobile phone . synaptics touchscreen technology was also featured in logitech s harmony family which debuted in 2008 and brought capacitive touch capabilities to universal remote controls . in 2011 current ceo rick bergman was appointed to succeed francis lee ceo from 1999 2011 and drive synaptics expansion in to new markets . in 2012 synaptics introduced the world s first full function capacitive touch solution to incorporate pressure recognition aka force sensing enabling multi finger and variable force input . the following year synaptics acquired validity sensors a fingerprint sensor vendor based in san jose adding biometrics and fingerprint sensing to synaptics portfolio of solutions . 5 synaptics acquired required renesas sp drivers inc. a japanese company specializing in chips that manage lcd displays in 2014 . synaptics purchased renesas sp for approximately jpy48 .5 b 475 million for 100 % of the company . 6 the acquisition enabled synaptics to establish an integrated portfolio of touch and display driver technologies . the company has since expanded in to additional markets including automotive wearables and pc peripherals in 2015 . in fy15 synaptics reported 1.703 billion in revenue and cited a 46 % compound annual growth rate . 3 technology edit synaptics products are based on capacitive sensing technology as opposed to resistive touchscreen technologies . capacitive touch sensing works by sensing the electrical properties of the finger s touching the sensor ; a resistive touchscreen senses direct pressure between two clear electrical layers that are separated by a small space requiring an amount of force . 7 capacitive touch sensing solutions are solid state making them more robust than resistive solutions . synaptics s human interface solutions are currently based upon the following key technologies capacitive position sensing technology capacitive force sensing technology transparent capacitive position sensing technology pattern recognition technology mixed signal integrated circuit technology display systems and circuit technology capacitive active pen technology multi touch technology proprietary microcontroller technology thintouch technology fingerprint sensing technology products edit synaptics touchpad synaptics core product families deliver touch sensing display and biometrics solutions . they include touchpads touch controllers fingerprint sensors and integrated solutions . touchpad family 8 touch sensitive trackpads that sense the position and movement of one or more fingers on their surfaces . the touchpad s core market is notebook pcs and includes touchpad module enabling user navigation via touch interface clickpad clickable touchpad that also serves as a button forcepad touchpad with pressure sensitive scrolling and zooming and press to click capabilities anywhere on the touchpad securepad touchpad with fingerprint authentication enabling users to authorize online transactions login to websites and access applications clearpad touch controllers 9 capacitive touch controllers with minimal size and low power requirements tailored for specific applications series 1 for compact displays series 2 for smartphone touchscreens series 3 for more feature rich mobile device displays series 7 for tablet pc notebook automotive and other applications requiring larger touchscreens natural id fingerprint sensors biometrics 10 series of fingerprint authentication sensors combining biometrics and advanced encryption with security ease of use and cost efficiency . they feature synaptics sentrypoint which is a suite of security features aggregated to protect users personal biometric information . natural id sensors also function under glass making it possible to eliminate the home button on smartphones . clearview display drivers 11 display driver integrated circuits ddic with the industry s smallest display ics and ultra hd resolution support for more dynamic design friendly and power efficient display options as well as reduced image load times . touchview integrated touch and display controllers 12 solutions integrating touch and display technology in to single and two chip solutions enabling devices to be thinner and lighter at lower costs . synaptics touch and display driver integration tddi supports clearforce for variable force sensing and clearview ddic features for enhancing display brightness color contrast and readability in sunlight and power efficiency . for advanced touch features touchview products support virtually all clearpad touch controller features . industry alliances edit synaptics is a founding member of the fido fast id online alliance and the universal stylus initiative usi . the fido alliance is an industry consortium that aims to make authentication stronger and simpler and to reduce reliance on passwords . 13 synaptics corporate development vice president adnan raza sits on the fido alliance board representing synaptics . other notable board members include google microsoft paypal lenovo qualcomm rsa samsung bank of america visa discover american express and mastercard . usi is an organization of leading oems stylus and touch controller manufacturers driving industry standards to promote interoperable active styluses with touch enabled devices such as phones tablets and computing and entertainment platforms . synaptics senior director of integrated display and touch products jeff lukanc is vice president of usi . manufacturing & supply chain edit synaptics manufacturing operations are based on a variable cost model in which it outsource all of its production requirements and generally drop ship its products directly to its customers from its contract manufacturers facilities . this eliminates the need for significant capital expenditures and allows the company to minimize its investment in inventories . the company provides its contract manufacturers with six month rolling forecasts and issue purchase orders based on anticipated requirements for the next 90 days . it uses two third party wafer manufacturers to supply wafers and four third party packaging manufacturers to package its proprietary asics . in certain cases it relies on a single source or a limited number of suppliers to provide other key components of its products . 14 leadership edit rick bergman president and ceo wajid ali senior vice president and cfo kevin barber senior vice president and general manager smart display division sdd jean boufarhat senior vice president cad and sdd silicon engineering scott deutsch senior vice president of worldwide sales karen gaydon senior vice president of global human resources john mcfarland senior vice president general counsel and secretary adnan raza vice president of corporate development huibert verhoeven senior vice president and general manager of the human interface systems division hisd david wang senior vice president of technology and bpd silicon engineering alex wong senior vice president of worldwide operations patrick worfolk senior vice president of corporate research and cto references edit a b c revenue for synaptics syna . shareholder.com . 2015 08 17 . retrieved 2015 07 30 . annual report 2015 pdf . investors.com . 2014 02 07 . retrieved 2014 08 07 . a b bergman rick november 17 2015 . fy2016 analyst day presentation pdf . retrieved may 25 2016 . markoff john 1994 10 24 . pad to replace computer mouse is set for debut . the new york times . issn 0362 4331 . retrieved 2016 06 21 . human interface technology synaptics . synaptics.com . retrieved 2016 06 21 . synaptics accelerates mobile display leadership with acquisition of renesas sp drivers synaptics . synaptics.com . retrieved 2016 06 21 . capacitive touch phone scoop . www.phonescoop.com . 2010 . retrieved 2010 06 07 . touchpad solutions for notebooks synaptics . www.synaptics.com . retrieved 2016 06 22 . touchscreen controller products clearpad synaptics . www.synaptics.com . retrieved 2016 06 22 . area touch and swipe fingerprint sensors natural id synaptics . www.synaptics.com . retrieved 2016 06 22 . display driver integrated circuits ddic clearview synaptics . www.synaptics.com . retrieved 2016 06 22 . integrated touch & display controller products tddi touchview synaptics . www.synaptics.com . retrieved 2016 06 22 . fido alliance about the fido alliance . fidoalliance.org . retrieved 2016 06 22 . http investor.shareholder.com synaptics secfiling.cfm filingid 1193125 14 318722 & cik 817720 v t e open handset alliance mobile operators bouygues telecom china mobile china telecom china unicom kddi nepal telecom ntt docomo softbank mobile sprint corporation t mobile telecom italia telef nica telus vodafone software companies access ascender corporation ebay google myriad group nuance communications nxp software omron packetvideo svox visualon semiconductor companies akm semiconductor inc. arm holdings audience broadcom csr plc joined as sirf cypress semiconductor freescale semiconductor gemalto intel marvell technology group mediatek mips technologies nvidia qualcomm qualcomm atheros renesas electronics st ericsson joined as ericsson mobile platforms synaptics texas instruments handset makers acer inc. alcatel mobile phones asus chaudhary group association of lg cci dell foxconn garmin htc huawei kyocera lenovo mobile lg electronics motorola mobility nec corporation samsung electronics sharp corporation sony mobile communications toshiba zte commercialization companies accenture borqs sasken communication technologies teleca the astonishing tribe wind river systems wipro technologies see also android dalvik virtual machine google nexus t mobile g1 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title synaptics & oldid 744362580 categories computer peripheral companiessemiconductor companies of the united statestechnology companies based in the san francisco bay areacompanies based in santa clara californiacomputer companies established in 1986electronics companies established in 19861986 establishments in californiacompanies listed on nasdaq navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants 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