without losing half of the gain, shifting the DC level using only NPN transistors, and providing optional frequency compensation with an external capacitor. Such compensation increased the bandwidth of the device to 25-30 MHz, an unprecedented breakthrough for monolithic amplifiers at that time. Widlar did not consider the μA702 prototype good enough for production, but Fairchild decided otherwise and rushed the chip into production in October 1964. The device set the direction for the industry for decades, despite limited common-mode range, weak output drive capabilities, and a price of $300 (). According to Jack Gifford, the top management of Fairchild noticed the novelty and learned of Widlar's existence only after receiving enthusiastic feedback from the market. The μA709, which followed the compromised μA702, became a technical and commercial success. Widlar increased the μA709's voltage gain tenfold over that of the μA702 (70,000 vs. 7,000), and improved output performance with a push-pull output stage, although the output lacked protection against short circuits. The input stage was governed by a Widlar current source which allowed generation of low bias currents without the need for area-consumptive high-value resistors. The transistors were equipped with beta-compensation resistors to reduce the effects of inevitable mismatch. Fairchild R&D staff spoke against Widlar's decision to employ lateral PNP transistors. Widlar locked himself up for 170 hours of continuous experimental work and came out with a robust design that blended two resistive diffusion areas into a usable lateral PNP device. The μA709 was introduced in November 1965 and became Fairchild's revolutionary flagship product. For a few years, Fairchild was the leader in the field of linear ICs. Demand for its products exceeded its production capacity by a factor of ten; Fairchild's circuits were sold out for two years in advance. Gifford, one of the few men who fully understood Widlar and his work, contributed to the market boom by introducing a dual in-line package. According to Don Valentine, "at one point in time [Widlar and Talbert] were responsible – one designed them and one made them – for more than eighty percent of the linear circuits made and sold in the world". None of Fairchild's competitors came close to matching its status in the market. Fairchild patented Widlar's innovations but never licensed them and never enforced their rights in court. Competitors created clones of μA709 but only Philco succeeded in producing one that fully matched the original. Other designs