Since 1988, SanDisk has been a major player in the flash storage industry for nearly 20 years. They were founded in 1988 and have remained at the top of the flash storage market for almost 20 years.
They were key players right from the beginning and they innovated at such a rapid rate during their launch (quite literally into the space), to get them where they are today.
Let’s go on a trip down memory lane to see how SanDisk became the innovators in flash storage.
SanDisk has been expanding storage possibilities for over 27 years. They have grown from a small start-up in Silicon Valley with three employees to a large global company employing over 8,000 people. Their commitment to technology advancement and anticipating customers’ needs has been constant.
1988
Eli Harari, a Californian, begins work in a small office in Palo Alto to develop a revolutionary idea called “System Flash”. This concept would replace HDDs with portable, battery-operated devices.
Harari’s daughter, who is a young woman, suggested the name SunDisk because it sounds “cheerful” and “sunny”.
1991
SunDisk presents a vision of the future: Flash memory is for “an emerging class of compact, handheld products such as hand-held computers and electronic notebooks…and cellular phones.” This vision comes years before the first mobile devices hit the market.
SunDisk launches its first products using SunDisk 4Mb Flash Chips
1992
SunDisk collaborates closely with Canon, Kodak, and other camera makers to standardize card slots. This will eventually allow digital cameras to fully take advantage of the increasing card capacities and performance.
SunDisk has opened a Japan sales office to increase global demand.
1993
U.S. Space Shuttle launches with a SunDisk Flash Drive code-named “Rainbow” into space. Flash storage is ideal for extreme applications due to its ruggedness.
1995
SanDisk went public on November 8, 1995, at $10.00 per share. SanDisk’s NASDAQ ticker symbol, SNDK, is used to trade more than 16 million shares.
Officially, SunDisk has changed its name to SanDisk.
1996
SanDisk has shipped the 64Mb MLC Flash chip, which is the first of its kind in the world.
SanDisk relocates its headquarters to Sunnyvale in California.
1999
SanDisk and Toshiba create the Flash memory industry’s first NAND joint venture to develop cutting-edge technology and produce high-volume production.
SanDisk unveils the first MLC with high volumes.
Joint efforts by SanDisk, Panasonic, and Toshiba have brought SD card format to life. Because it is smaller and lighter, the footprint storage format allows for more compact electronic devices.
2000
SanDisk discontinues the NOR Flash proprietary at 512Mb density, and switches its entire product line over to NAND Flash memory chips with high capacity.
PRODUCTS
64MB SD(tm), Card
2001
SanDisk and Toshiba have shipped the first commercial NAND MLC 1Gb chips in the world, at the lowest price per bit.
The long-term relationship between SanDisk and Toshiba is based on the strategic vision of providing the highest quality Flash memory and lowest price per bit.
PRODUCTS
128MB SD card
Memory Stick Cards
1GB CompactFlash card
2002
SanDisk and Toshiba transfer all NAND Flash wafer manufacturing to Toshiba’s Fabs 1 & 2 and Yokkaichi in Japan.
SanDisk launches its first USB drive, Cruzer(r)
USB drives will eventually replace flexible, spinning storage media like floppy drives or Zip drives.
2003
This milestone is celebrated by the company by ringing the opening bell of the NASDAQ stock exchange.
SanDisk’s total revenue exceeds $1 billion
SanDisk introduces SD cards of high performance Industrial Grade for demanding applications and portable devices.
SanDisk launches the miniSD removable mobile card.
SanDisk’s ABL technology is introduced to improve Flash memory performance and reliability. ABL is later made a standard architecture for NAND Flash.
2004
SanDisk’s average capacity doubles every 18 months, beating Moore’s Law for 90nm technology.
SanDisk and Motorola introduce jointly the TransFlash(tm), a removable card for mobile phones. Later, it is renamed microSD.
MicroSD cards are the fastest-growing form factor in the world. In its first year, five million cards were shipped.
PRODUCTS
128MB microSD(tm), Memory Card
Sansa(r), MP3 Player
2005
NAND pricing dropped from $167 to $46 for 1GB between 2003 and 2005. This allows Flash memory to be more widely used for a greater variety of consumer applications at a lower price point.
SanDisk buys Matrix Semiconductor. This company is a pioneer in 3D-based, one-time programmable chips technology.
PRODUCTS
1GB SanDisk microSD Memory Card
2006
SanDisk purchases m-systems(tm), which was founded in 1989 and focuses on embedded Flash and mobile storage. It is also the inventor of USB Flash drives.
Sanjay Mehrotra has been appointed President and COO.
In recognition of their pioneering work with Flash memory technology, Sanjay Mehrotra, Jack Yuan and Eli Harari were awarded the IEEE Reynold B. Johnson Data Storage Device Technology Award.
2007
SanDisk opens its first China office. The Test and Assembly plant in Shanghai offers manufacturing and assembly services, as well as retail distribution for customers in the region.
SanDisk launches 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch SSDs to replace HDDs on notebook computers. This is a first step towards making SSDs an economically viable storage option.
IBM chooses SanDisk SSDs for Flash-based storage to power its blade servers.
PRODUCTS
8GB iNAND
32GB SATA SSD 5000 SSD
2008
SanDisk has introduced a new Flash management system to improve SSD performance and reliability.
SanDisk launches “pSSD” Flash memory modules to support a new category ultra-low-cost mobile computers.
MLC-based SSDs are launched. Prices begin to rise to acceptable levels, allowing SSDs to be mainstreamed.
PRODUCTS
16GB iNAND
32GB SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash memory Card
2009
SanDisk has launched the first 64GB X4 (4-bits per cell) Sandisk Pro Flash memory cards. This new technology stores four bits of data per memory cell and is twice as powerful as traditional MLC memory chips.
Harari is awarded the IEEE Robert N. Noyce medal 2009 in recognition of his contributions to the development and commercialization Flash memory technology.
PRODUCT
64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash memory Card
2010
Eli Harari, Chairman and CEO of SanDisk, will retire at the close of 2010.
PRODUCT
64GB SanDisk iSSD ™ Integrated Storage Device
2011
Sanjay Mehrotra was appointed CEO January 1, 2011.
As MLC NAND Flash prices drop, the market for enterprise SSD continues to grow.
SanDisk buys Pliant Technology. Strategically, the acquisition combines enterprise-level system expertise with large-scale Flash memory production at SanDisk.
SanDisk launches its first SSDs of high performance to retail channels.
PRODUCTS
128GB SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash Card Memory Card
64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC(tm)
U100 SSD
Lightning(r) SAS Enterprise SSDs
2012
SanDisk builds a second building in Shanghai to expand its assembly-test facility.
SanDisk buys FlashSoft Enterprise Storage Software Developers and Schooner Information Technology.
IEEE honors Harari’s contributions with an IEEE Milestone
SanDisk ships over 2 million products every day.
PRODUCTS
128GB Cruzer Glide(tm) USB Flash Drive
X100 SSD
Lightning PCIe Enterprise SSAs
FlashSoft(tm), Software
2013
25th Anniversary
To increase its focus on enterprise storage, it acquires SMART Storage Systems.
First products using 19nm technology are shipped.
Thomson Reuters named him one of the Top 100 Global Innovators in 2012
As a founding partner, joins the US2020 STEM education initiative.
PRODUCTS
The world’s first CFast 2.0 memory card launches
World’s First High Capacity 256GB CompactFlash Cards with VPG-65
SanDisk Connect(tm) Announces a Line of Wireless Flash Storage Products
Extended SSD Line-Up Available for Consumers and Computer Makers
2014
Announces 15nm technology: The world’s most advanced NAND flash node.
Fusion-io is acquired by Fusion-io, a leader in PCIe storage solutions.
Patent portfolio exceeds 5000.
Thomson Reuters has named Thomson Reuters a Top 100 Global Innovator
PRODUCTS
Optimus MAX(tm), World’s First 4TB Enterprise SAS SSD SSD
128GB SanDisk Ultra(r), microSDXC ™, The World’s Largest Capacity microSD card
512GB SanDisk Extreme Pro(r) SDXC ™, The World’s Largest Capacity SD Card
The industry’s first flash drive for iPhone and iPad, iXpand USB Drive
2015
InfiniFlash creates a new storage category using an all-flash storage solution.
With a range of high-performance SSDs, it enters the portable SSD market.
Since 2005, 2 Billion microSD(tm), cards have been shipped
PRODUCTS:
The First High-Endurance microSDXC ™ Card from the Company
200GB SanDisk Ultra(r), microSDXC ™, The World’s Most High-Capacity microSD Card
iNAND(r), 7232, The Best-in-Class Embedded Storage Solutions
SanDisk Ultra Fit(tm), USB, the World’s Smallest 128GB USB3.0 Flash Drive
SANDISK TODAY
Our storage products are available in many of the top data centers in the world, on your favourite electronic devices, and in hundreds of thousands of retail shops around the globe. We are a recognized global innovator. We hold over 5,000 patents around the world. We are constantly changing the industry through our research on 3-D memory and other advances that improve capacities and make it possible to create new devices.