TRANSISTOR MUSEUM™  Historic Transistor Photo Gallery
TO-3 Case Style Date Code 8 52 (1958 Week 52) Early 1960s Motorola Automobile Radio Uses 2N176 Audio Output Transistor	MOTOROLA 2N176 TYPE Germanium PNP Alloy Junction Power Transistor USAGE Automobile Radio Audio Output (2 Watts) DATE INTRODUCED 1956 CASE STYLES Gold Plated TO-3 AVAILABILITY Common (High Volume Production)
HISTORIC NOTES Motorola established a transistor research operation in Phoenix in 1949, only one year after the first public announcement of the transistor by Bell Labs.  At that time, Motorola was a major manufacturer of communications, military and consumer electronics, and the intent was to develop in-house expertise in this promising new technology.  Large scale transistor production began in 1956, when the 2N176 germanium power transistor was introduced.  By January 1957, over 1,000,000 of these devices had been manufactured by Motorola – this represented 50% of all power transistors that had been made by all other companies at that time.  The primary market for the 2N176 was in automobile radios. These first “transistor-powered” radios were really hybrid technology, meaning that both vacuum tubes and transistors were used.  Initial cost for the 2N176 was as much as $26 per unit, but Motorola’s high volume and manufacturing prowess dropped the cost to $2 each by 1960.  The huge sales success of the 2N176 established Motorola as a major semiconductor manufacturer, and this historic transistor was still in production well into the 1960s, when silicon technology began to supercede germanium for most applications.  As shown above, the 2N176 used the now standard TO-3 case style, pioneered by Motorola in 1955.
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