Realtek Semiconductor

Realtek Semiconductor Corp. is a fabless semiconductor company situated in the Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Realtek was founded in October 1987 and subsequently listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1998. Realtek currently manufactures and sells a variety of microchips globally and its product lines broadly fall into three categories: communications network ICs, computer peripheral ICs, and multimedia ICs. As of 2019, Realtek employs 5,000 people, of whom 78% work in research and development. Communication network IC products manufactured and marketed by Realtek include: network interface controllers (both the traditional 10/100M Ethernet controllers and the more advanced gigabit Ethernet controllers), physical layer controllers (PHYceivers), network switch controllers, gateway controllers, wireless LAN ICs, as well as ADSL router controllers. In particular, the RTL8139 series 10/100M Fast Ethernet controllers reached their height during the late 1990s, and continued to take up a significant, and eventually predominant share in the worldwide market in the following years. Those devices categorized as Realtek's computer peripheral IC products consist of the traditional AC'97 audio codecs, the High Definition Audio codecs, card reader controllers, clock generators and IEEE 1394 ICs. Multimedia IC products include LCD Monitor Controllers, LCD TV Controllers and Digital Media Processors.