In 1954, Texas Instruments took a bold leap and developed the world’s first commercial transistor radio, the Regency TR-1. Pat Haggerty, VP of TI, made this ambitious move by committing 10% of the company’s revenue to the radio’s development, aiming to have it on store shelves in six months. Gordon Teal, hired by TI, revolutionized the transistor by using silicon instead of germanium. The TR-1 had four transistors and faced quality-control issues but paved the way for portable gadgets. While the radio wasn’t very profitable, it pushed the transistor market forward by two years, showing the power of innovation and vision.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/transistor-radio-invented