WJ History
WJ Communications Inc. is the commercial product descendent of Watkins-Johnson Company, which was founded in 1957 and developed and manufactured devices for defense electronics and space communications systems. With increased market opportunities in commercial communications in the 1990s, WJ began applying its technology, design and manufacturing expertise to develop commercial communications products.
Today WJ Communications, a public traded company (WJCI) listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, has established itself as a RF semiconductor company focusing on the design and manufacture of high-quality and innovative devices and multi-chip modules for the communications industry, as well as suppliers of best-in-class RFID readers, modules and chipsets.
Company Milestones
1957 – Watkins Johnson is formed
1963 – Acquires California-based Stewart Engineering Company, a manufacturer of backward-wave oscillators, devices used
primarily in electronic test equipment, and a maker of a line of controlled atmosphere furnaces for the semiconductor
industry
1967 – Company was traded at NYSE for first time
1967 – Acquires another company, Maryland-based Communication Electronics Inc., a manufacturer of lower frequency
reconnaissance and surveillance equipment used principally for monitoring radio communications
1970 – Completed its third acquisition of California-based RELCOM, a closely-held manufacturer of precision components such as
mixers, frequency converters, transformers, and switches
Mid 1970s – Became the leading supplier of world’s largest selection of receiving equipment for surveillance, direction finding
and counter measures. Sales outside the United States accounted for 30 percent of the company's total sales by the
mid-1970s
End 1970s - The company, profitable in every year since its founding, was supported by approximately 3,000 employees,
four manufacturing facilities, and 15 sales offices in the United States and in Europe
Mid 1980s – Sales from defense sectors started shrinking and the company began to diversify
Late 1980s - Emerged as a leading supplier of chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) systems to semiconductor manufacturers,
developing equipment that deposited layers of non-conducting dielectrics onto silicon wafers
1989 – Electronic Equipment Group (EEG) established at WJ to design, develop and produce SIGINT intercept and collection
equipment
Mid 1990s - Ranked as the third-largest producer of CVD systems in the world
1995 - The company sold its microwave electronics unit to Condor Systems Inc., freeing up manufacturing space at its San Jose
facility for semiconductor equipment production
2000 - Originally incorporated in California and reincorporated in Delaware. Fox Paine Capital Fund, an investment fund managed
by Fox Paine & Company, LLC became the controlling stockholder of the Company
2002 – Appoints Richardson Electronics, Ltd., as worldwide distributor for RF products
2004 - Completed acquisition of the wireless infrastructure business and associated assets from EiC Corporation, a California
based corporation
2005 – Acquires Telenexus, Inc., a company that designed, and developed, RFID reader products for a broad range of industries
and markets
2007 – Appoints Altima as a distributor in Japan for its RF and RFID solutions
– WJ Completes Transition to Fabless Business Model