Atmel Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Atmel Corporation was a semiconductor manufacturer for the electronics industry with intelligent and connected solutions focused on the industrial, automotive, consumer, communications and computing markets. See our Atmel Products page for more information on Atmel and the products it sold.

Microchip announced the acquisition of Atmel on January 19, 2016 and Microchip Technology Inc. owns Atmel. All of Atmel’s technologies, products and branding are now under Microchip’s umbrella.

Steve Sanghi, president and CEO of Microchip at the time, said "The combined business of Microchip and Atmel will create a microcontroller, analog and Internet of Things (IoT) powerhouse. Atmel's portfolio of microcontrollers, wireless, touch, memory and automotive products complements and enhances many of Microchip's solutions in these areas. We believe that combining Atmel's business with Microchip's business will offer our combined customers a broader range of innovative solutions to serve their needs, while creating significant long-term stockholder value.”

After Microchip announced the acquisition of Atmel on January 19, 2016, the merger was completed in July 2016.

No, Microchip Technology and Atmel Corporation were separate companies until Microchip acquired Atmel. Atmel is now part of Microchip. While Atmel no longer exists as a separate entity, its products and technologies continue to be available under the Microchip brand.

Microchip manufactures Atmel products and continues to develop new products based upon Atmel’s technology. Our Atmel Products page provide guidance on how to purchase products that were offered by Atmel and newer products offered by Microchip based on Atmel's technology.

When Microchip acquired Atmel, Atmel’s stock was delisted and shareholders were compensated according to the merger agreement.

At the time of acquisition, the CEO of Atmel was Steven Laub.

Atmel produced a wide range of microcontrollers (MCUs) and these MCUs were widely used in a variety of markets, such as industrial, consumer, automotive and IoT. Many hobbyists and DIYers were also customers. The following are some examples of MCUs sold by Atmel:

• AVR® microcontrollers
  • ATtiny (TinyAVR®) microcontrollers
  • ATmega (megaAVR®) microcontrollers
  • ATxmega (XMEGA™) microcontrollers
• SAM microcontrollers based on Arm® Cortex®-M cores ( SAM D/E/L/C/S/V series)
• 8051 architecture microcontrollers

Atmel Studio (replaced by Microchip Studio) was an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) developed by Atmel for writing, building and debugging applications for AVR and Arm-based SAM microcontrollers. 

The following will assist you in purchasing products originally offered by Atmel and newer products based on Atmel technology:

• Atmel products page: To view information about software and products offered by Microchip and newer products based on Atmel’s technology
• www.microchipDIRECT.com: To purchase directly from Microchip’s e-commerce store
• Sales and authorized distributors: To contact our worldwide network of technical sales and support professionals

We have multiple options to get you the help you need:

• Visit our Support page to explore different support options, including our knowledge base and community forums.
• Go to our Contact Us page to explore options for getting into contact with a Microchip expert.
• Do you have questions about placing an order? Check out our FAQs for Orders.