William J. Weisz is named president of Motorola, Inc., and, in 1972, chief operating officer. Robert W. Galvin continues as chief executive officer and chairman of the board.
A Motorola FM radio receiver is used by the Lunar Roving Vehicle to provide a voice link over 240,000 miles between Earth and the Moon. The receiver is 100 times more sensitive than a standard car radio, yet is weighs only one and a half pounds.
Motorola begins to manufacture components for battery powered quartz watches. Between 1971 and 1979, the company gains critical experience in producing and supplying integrated circuits, quartz crystals, and miniature motors to manufacturers like Timex, Benrus and Bulova.
Motorola introduces its first microprocessor, the 6800. containing 4,000 transistors, it needs only a single 5-volt power supply and is supported by a range of RAMs, ROMs and other devices. Early customers are from the automotive, communications, industrial, and business-machines sectors.
Motorola's home television business including the well-known "Quasar" trademark, is sold. The buyer, Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Ltd., also purchases the Motorola facility in Quincy, Illinois.
Detailed colour photographs of the surface of the planet Mars taken by Viking 2 are relayed to Earth via Motorola equipment.
Motorola's new international headquarters is located on a 325-acre campus in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois.
A Motorola-designed and produced high capacity radio telephone system, which employs the short-range radio frequency reuse method, is granted a developmental license by the Federal Communications Commission. Motorola's Communications Group records its 26th consecutive year of sales growth.
The Codex Corporation, a leading manufacturer of products and systems for data communications networks, becomes a Motorola subsidiary. Universal Data Systems, a maker of moderately priced data communications equipment, is acquired by Motorola in 1978.
Motorola introduces a line of computer controlled radio systems and products that use the trunking method. Two-way radio system operators can prioritize, assign, and reconfigure groups of radio users on demand. Advanced integrated circuits are applied throughout Motorola radio communications products.
Motorola introduces its first 16-bit microprocessor, the 68000. Capable of completing two million calculations per second, it can be used both to run and to write programs for scientific, data processing, and business applications.
The overall quality of Motorola's products and operations is scrutinized at a corporate officers meeting. Implementation of a company-wide Quality program is underway by the mid-1980s.
History of Motorola
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A.T.Pon@cs.cf.ac.uk