Atmel

Atmel Corporation was a multinational semiconductor company known for its microcontroller and memory products. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company was founded in 1984 and grew into a major supplier of embedded processing solutions for consumer electronics, automotive, industrial, and communications markets. Atmel developed the AVR family of 8-bit RISC microcontrollers, which became one of the most widely used lines for embedded systems and education, notably in the Arduino platform. In addition to AVR, Atmel produced 32-bit AVR32 microcontrollers, and later ARM-based SAM microcontrollers, expanding its embedded portfolio. The company also offered memory devices such as serial EEPROM and flash, as well as security and touch-sensing products like CryptoMemory, CryptoAuthentication, and QTouch controllers.

Atmel's development tools included the Atmel Studio IDE and the AVR-GCC toolchain, supporting both its own and third-party software ecosystems. The company pursued strategic acquisitions and partnerships to broaden its product offerings and served customers across consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial sectors.

In 2016, Microchip Technology acquired Atmel in a deal valued at approximately $3.8 billion, integrating Atmel's microcontroller families and security products into Microchip's product line. The Atmel brand continued to influence Microchip's MCU roadmap, and its AVR architectures remained widely used in education and hobbyist communities. The acquisition marked a significant consolidation in the embedded microcontroller market.