Synaptics Chips: Products, Markets, and Technology

Synaptics Incorporated designs and sells touch controllers, display drivers, fingerprint sensors, and wireless connectivity chips for smartphones, PCs, and emerging IoT devices. This article explains what Synaptics makes, who buys its chips, and how its technology fits into the devices you use every day.

Company Background

Synaptics was founded in 1986 in California and became a public company in 2002. It started by making trackpads for laptop computers, which replaced the older trackball and clunky pointing sticks. Over the years, Synaptics expanded through acquisitions: it bought Renesas SP Drivers in 2014 to enter the display driver market, Conexant and Marvell’s IoT businesses in 2017 to add audio and wireless connectivity, and DisplayLink in 2020 for USB display technology. Today, Synaptics is a fabless semiconductor company—it designs chips but outsources manufacturing to foundries like TSMC.

Core Product Lines

Synaptics organizes its chips into four main product families:

• Human Interface (HMI): Touch controllers, trackpads, fingerprint sensors, and force-sensing solutions. These are the chips that detect your finger on a screen or a laptop trackpad.
• Display Drivers (DDIC): OLED and LCD drivers that control the pixels on smartphone screens. Synaptics also sells TDDI (Touch and Display Driver Integration) chips that combine both functions into one chip to save space and cost.
• Audio and Voice: Smart audio codecs and DSPs for voice assistants, noise cancellation, and far-field voice pickup in smart speakers and earbuds.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and combo chips for IoT devices, plus USB display controllers for docking stations and monitors.

Target Markets

Synaptics sells to three major markets:

• Mobile: Smartphones and tablets use Synaptics touch controllers, TDDI chips, and OLED drivers. The company has been a major supplier to Chinese smartphone makers like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, though it faces stiff competition from Novatek and Samsung LSI.
• PC and Peripherals: Laptops from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Asus use Synaptics trackpads and fingerprint readers. The company also sells display controllers for external monitors and docking stations.
• IoT and Edge AI: Smart home devices, wearables, and industrial equipment use Synaptics wireless chips, audio DSPs, and low-power processors. The acquisition of Marvell’s IoT business brought in the popular 88MW series Wi-Fi microcontrollers.

How Synaptics Chips Work

Synaptics touch controllers use capacitive sensing: they measure changes in capacitance when a finger approaches the sensor grid. The chip processes the raw signals to determine touch location, pressure, and gestures like pinch or swipe. For fingerprint sensors, Synaptics offers both capacitive (touch-based) and optical (under-display) solutions. Optical sensors use a tiny camera-like array under the OLED screen to capture a fingerprint image when your finger presses on the glass. Display drivers simply translate the image data from the phone’s processor into voltage signals that control each pixel’s color and brightness.

How to Choose a Synaptics Chip

If you’re designing a product, choosing a Synaptics chip depends on your application:

1. For a smartphone: Look for a TDDI chip if you want to save space and cost; choose a separate OLED driver if you need high refresh rates or flexible displays.
2. For a laptop: Select a trackpad controller with gesture support and palm rejection. For fingerprint login, choose a match-in-sensor solution that stores fingerprint data on the chip itself for security.
3. For a smart home device: Pick a Wi-Fi SoC like the 88MW series if you need simple connectivity; add a separate audio DSP if you need voice assistant support.
4. Check the interface: Most Synaptics chips use I2C, SPI, or USB. Ensure your host processor has the right bus.
5. Consider power: For battery devices, look for chips with low-power modes and wake-on-touch features.

Common Problems and Misconceptions

A common misconception is that Synaptics is a “touchscreen company” only. In reality, a significant portion of revenue now comes from IoT and audio products. Another issue: older Synaptics trackpad drivers sometimes had palm rejection problems on Windows laptops, leading to cursor jumps while typing. This was largely fixed in newer drivers, but it’s still a frequent user complaint. For fingerprint sensors, users often report that optical under-display sensors are slower than capacitive ones—true, but they allow for full-screen designs. Also, some people confuse Synaptics with Synology (a NAS company) or Synopsys (an EDA company). They are unrelated.

Comparison with Competitors

Synaptics competes with several larger chipmakers:

• Touch controllers: vs. Elan Microelectronics and Goodix. Synaptics historically had the edge in premium laptops, but Goodix dominates budget Android phones.
• Display drivers: vs. Novatek and Samsung LSI. Novatek has a larger market share in LCD drivers, while Samsung LSI leads in OLED drivers for high-end phones.
• IoT connectivity: vs. Espressif, Realtek, and Silicon Labs. Synaptics differentiates with integrated audio and low-power MCUs, but Espressif offers cheaper Wi-Fi modules.
• Fingerprint sensors: vs. Goodix and Fingerprint Cards (FPC). Synaptics has a smaller share in mobile, but remains strong in PC fingerprint readers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Synaptics a Chinese company?

No, Synaptics is an American company headquartered in San Jose, California. It has design centers in Asia, but it is incorporated in the U.S. and listed on NASDAQ under the ticker SYNA.

What does a Synaptics touchpad do?

A Synaptics touchpad converts your finger’s position and movement into cursor control and gestures. It uses capacitive sensors to detect the finger, and the driver software translates that into pointer movement, scrolling, and multi-finger gestures like pinch-to-zoom.

Why is my Synaptics touchpad not working?

Common causes include a disabled touchpad (check the Fn key toggle), outdated drivers, or Windows settings that disable it when a mouse is connected. Try reinstalling the driver from the PC manufacturer’s website, and check the touchpad settings in Windows Settings > Devices > Touchpad.

Does Synaptics make fingerprint sensors for phones?

Yes, Synaptics made the first optical under-display fingerprint sensor used in a commercial phone (the Vivo X20 Plus UD in 2018). However, their market share in mobile has declined, and they now focus more on PC and IoT fingerprint solutions.

What is TDDI?

TDDI stands for Touch and Display Driver Integration. It combines the touch controller and display driver into a single chip, reducing cost, power, and board space. Synaptics was a pioneer in TDDI for smartphones.

Can I buy Synaptics chips directly?

No, Synaptics sells primarily to OEMs and module makers. If you’re a hobbyist, you can find Synaptics-based modules on distributor sites like Digi-Key, but they’re not sold as consumer products.

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