Analog Devices Harnesses a Wii Hit

For more than a decade, Analog Devices(ADI Quote) has supplied automakers with a special kind of chip that deploys airbags during crashes.

While these chips -- known as MEMS, or micro-electro-mechanical systems -- bring in respectable revenue, turn a profit and save lives, the business has existed as a little-known venture within the $2.6 billion chipmaker.

At least that was the case until Nintendo's(NTDOY Quote) Wii gaming console hit the scene, bringing ADI's MEMS business to celebrity status inside and outside the company. ...