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SanDisk is a brand for
flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
products, including
memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...
s and readers,
USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...
s,
solid-state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...
s, and
digital audio player A portable media player (PMP) (also including the related digital audio player (DAP)) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored o ...
s, manufactured and marketed by
Western Digital Western Digital Corporation (WDC, commonly known as Western Digital or WD) is an American computer drive manufacturer and data storage company, headquartered in San Jose, California. It designs, manufactures and sells data technology produc ...
. The original company, SanDisk Corporation was acquired by Western Digital in 2016. Western Digital was the fourth-largest manufacturer of flash memory having declined from third-largest in 2014.


History

SanDisk was founded in 1988 by
Eli Harari Eliyahou Harari is an Israeli-American business executive best known for being the co-founder of SanDisk along with Sanjay Mehrotra. Early life and education He was born in 1945 in Tel Aviv, Israel. His parents were Polish Jews who at 1933 ...
,
Sanjay Mehrotra Sanjay Mehrotra is an Indian-American business executive and the CEO of Micron Technology. He was a co-founder of SanDisk, where he served as president and CEO until its acquisition by Western Digital in 2016. Early life and education Mehrot ...
, and Jack Yuan, incorporated at the time as SunDisk. SanDisk co-founder Eli Harari developed the Floating Gate
EEPROM EEPROM (also called E2PROM) stands for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or as a ...
which proved the practicality, reliability and endurance of semiconductor-based data storage. In 1991 SanDisk produced the first flash-based
solid-state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...
(SSD) in a 2.5-inch
hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...
form factor for IBM with a 20 MB capacity priced at about $1,000. In 1992, SanDisk (then SunDisk) introduced FlashDisk, a series of memory cards made for the
PCMCIA The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) was a group of computer hardware manufacturers, operating under that name from 1989 to 2009. Starting with the PCMCIA card in 1990 (the name later simplified to ''PC Card''), i ...
or PC card form factor, so they could be inserted into the expansion slots of many laptops and handheld PCs of the time. Unlike other similar products at the time, FlashDisks did not require a battery to store their contents. SanDisk discontinued their production in 2002, and the highest capacity model had 8 gigabytes of capacity. In 1995, just before its
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
, SunDisk changed its name to SanDisk, possibly to avoid confusion with
Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
, a prominent computer manufacturer at the time. On May 10, 2000, the
Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
Corporation of Japan and the SanDisk Corporation said that they would jointly form a new semiconductor company to produce advanced flash memory, primarily for
digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...
s. In 2005 SanDisk entered the
digital audio player A portable media player (PMP) (also including the related digital audio player (DAP)) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored o ...
market with the release of its first flash-based MP3 player, the
SanDisk Sansa SanDisk has produced a number of flash memory-based digital audio and portable media players since 2005. The current range of products bear the SanDisk Clip name, a line of ultraportable digital audio players. SanDisk players were formerly market ...
e100. As soon as 2006, they became the second largest maker of digital audio players in the United States behind
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
.


Acquisitions and growth

* In October 2005, SanDisk acquired Matrix Semiconductor. * In July 2006, SanDisk acquired
M-Systems M-Systems Ltd., (sometimes spelled msystems) was a Nasdaq-listed Israeli producer of flash memory storage products founded in 1989 by Dov Moran and Aryeh Mergi, based in Kfar Saba, Israel. They were best known for developing and patenting the ...
. * In May 2011, SanDisk acquired Pliant Technology, a manufacturer of solid state drives, for US$327 million. * In February 2012, SanDisk acquired FlashSoft. * In June 2012, SanDisk acquired
Schooner Information Technology Schooner Information Technology, Inc. provided database management system appliances for Web 2.0, cloud computing and data centers. It was headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and acquired by SanDisk in 2012. History Schooner Information Techn ...
, developer of the flash-optimized database software SchoonerSQL and caching software Membrain. * In July 2013, SanDisk acquired SMART Storage Systems, a producer of SSDs for the enterprise market, for US$307 million. * In June 2014, SanDisk acquired
Fusion-io Fusion-io, Inc. was a computer hardware and software systems company (acquired by SanDisk Corporation in 2014) based in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, that designed and manufactured products using flash memory technology. The Fusion was marketed ...
, a producer of flash memory for enterprise
data centers A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...
, for $1.1 billion.


Awards and sale

In 2012, the
Enough Project The Enough Project is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that was founded in 2007. Its stated mission is to end genocide and crimes against humanity. The Enough Project conducts research in several conflict areas in Africa includi ...
ranked SanDisk the third highest of 24 consumer electronics companies on "progress on
conflict minerals The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has a history of conflict, where various armies, rebel groups, and outside actors have profited from mining while contributing to violence and exploitation during wars in the region. The four mai ...
". In 2014, SanDisk co-founder Harari won the
National Medal of Technology and Innovation The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...
from President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
for his innovations and contributions to flash memory storage. On January 8, 2015, NexGen Storage, which had been acquired by Fusion-io, was spun out to become an independent company once again. In January 2016, Pivot3 (based in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
) acquired NexGen Storage. SanDisk was acquired by hard disk drive manufacturer
Western Digital Western Digital Corporation (WDC, commonly known as Western Digital or WD) is an American computer drive manufacturer and data storage company, headquartered in San Jose, California. It designs, manufactures and sells data technology produc ...
on May 12, 2016, for US$19 billion. In 2019
Sanjay Mehrotra Sanjay Mehrotra is an Indian-American business executive and the CEO of Micron Technology. He was a co-founder of SanDisk, where he served as president and CEO until its acquisition by Western Digital in 2016. Early life and education Mehrot ...
received a lifetime achievement award at a trade show.


See also

*
Eye-Fi Eye-Fi was a company based in Mountain View, California, that produced SD memory cards with Wi-Fi capabilities. Using an Eye-Fi card inside a digital camera, one could wirelessly and automatically upload digital photos to a local computer or a ...
* FlashCP *
SanDisk portable media players SanDisk has produced a number of flash memory-based digital audio and portable media players since 2005. The current range of products bear the SanDisk Clip name, a line of ultraportable digital audio players. SanDisk players were formerly market ...
* SanDisk Professional *
USB flash drive security Secure USB flash drives protect the data stored on them from access by unauthorized users. USB flash drive products have been on the market since 2000, and their use is increasing exponentially. As both consumers and businesses have increased dem ...
* StartKey * U3 *
ULLtraDIMM The ULLtraDIMM is a solid state storage device from SanDisk that connects flash storage directly onto the DDR3 memory bus. Unlike traditional PCIe Flash Storage devices, the ULLtraDIMM is plugged directly into an industry standard RDIMM memory b ...


References


External links

* 1988 establishments in California 1995 initial public offerings 2016 mergers and acquisitions American brands American companies established in 1988 Companies based in Milpitas, California Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Computer companies established in 1988 Computer memory companies Computer storage companies Manufacturing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Portable audio player manufacturers Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Western Digital {{US-manufacturing-company-stub