Western Design Center, Inc. (WDC) has licensed 65xx brand microprocessor Intellectual Property (IP/Cores) to the electronics industry since 1981. WDC is considered a pioneer in the design and licensing of microprocessor technology Intellectual Property (IP) cores and inspired Acorn engineers to create the wildly popular ARMxx series of microprocessors. GTE, Rockwell, MOS Technology, Synertek and NCR were some of WDC's first licensees. In addition, WDC began selling 65xx brand microprocessor chips to Apple Computer in 1984 making it the first supplier of microprocessors as a fabless semiconductor company.