Zilog recently issued a discontinuation notice, stating that the wafer foundry manufacturer (WFM) will no longer accept new Z80 chip orders (Z84C00 Range) from mid-June this year, indicating that this chip will be phased out 48 years after its launch.
Zilog will handle and arrange the “last time buy” (LTB) orders for the Z80 based on customer demand, and WFM will subsequently provide the actual delivery dates.
IT Home hereby provides the following public information: Zilog was founded in 1974 by Federico Faggin, who was previously an engineer at Intel and had developed Intel’s first 4-bit central processing unit, the 4004, before starting his own company.
Zilog released the Z80 chip in July 1976, compatible with Intel’s 8080 microprocessor instruction set.
The Z80 was developed by a small team of only 12 people, yet it achieved great success, allowing Zilog to establish its chip manufacturing facility within two years, with a workforce of over a thousand people.
Like Intel’s similar products, the Z80 was initially designed for embedded systems, but by the mid-70s to mid-80s, it had become an important milestone in the gaming hardware field.
Home computers and gaming consoles such as Sega’s Master System and SG-1000, as well as Nintendo’s Game Boy and Game Boy Color, were all designed around the Z80’s capabilities. Many classic arcade games also used the Z80, including the original version of “Pac-Man.”
Zilog licensed its Z80 technology to U.S. companies Synertek and Mostek (these companies assisted Faggin’s enterprise in production) and European manufacturer SGS/STMicroelectronics.
Later, manufacturers in Japan, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union emulated this CPU design, while companies like NEC, Toshiba, Sharp, and Hitachi also produced compatible versions of chips.
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