A transceiver is a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing.When no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver.The term originated in the early 1920s.lmost all modern amateur radio equipment is now a transceiver but there is an active market for pure radio receivers, mainly for shortwave listening (SWL) operators. An example of a transceiver would be a walkie-talkie or a CB radio.