RF Micro Devices (also known as RFMD or RF Micro), was an American company that designed and manufactured high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, RFMD traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol RFMD. The Company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1991. RF Micro has 3500 employees, 1500 of them in Guilford County, North Carolina. The company's products, predominantly radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and packaged modules that utilize them, were used in cellular networks and mobile phones, for wireless connectivity such as wireless LAN, GPS and Bluetooth, in cable modems and cable TV infrastructure, and for other applications including military radar. The most important applications in terms of sales were GaAs-based power amplifiers and antenna control solutions used in mobile phones (including smartphones), WiFi RF front-ends and components used in wireless infrastructure equipment. The company announced in February 2014 that it would merge with TriQuint Semiconductor. On January 2, 2015, RFMD and Triquint jointly announced that they had completed their merger of equals to form Qorvo (), and that Qorvo would start trading on the NASDAQ Global Stock Market starting from that day. Corporate history Early history The company was founded in 1991 in Greensboro, North Carolina by William J. Pratt, Powell T. Seymour and Jerry D. Neal, all of whom were former employees of Analog Devices. From the beginning, it was focused on designing RFIC products for the commercial wireless market. In 1992 RFMD licensed GaAs HBT (gallium arsenide heterojunction bipolar transistor) technology from space and defense contractor TRW Inc. From 1993 until RFMD built its own semiconductor fabrication plant in 1998, it used TRW as a contract manufacturer while TRW acquired a 10% ownership interest in the company. GaAs HBT emerged as a leading technology for high-performance RF applications, such as power amplifiers and small signal devices used in cellular handsets. RFMD initially supplied ICs for Qualcomm's digital cell phones, and by 1998 had gained Samsung, Nokia, and LG as customers, as production continued to increase. At the end of fiscal year 1997, the company had 133 employees and revenues of $29 million. IPO and prominence The IPO of the company on the NASDAQ stock market occurred on June 3, 1997 under the symbol RFMD. At the time of the IPO, the company was a pioneer and leader in the use GaAs HBT