SanDisk
 | |
| Company type | Public (Nasdaq: SNDK) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Flash memory Digital audio player |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Milpitas, California, USA |
Key people | Eli Harari, Founder, President & CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Founder, COO, Executive Vice President Jack Yuan, Founder |
| Products | Flash memory cards USB flash drives Digital Audio Players |
Number of employees | 1083 (2006) |
| Website | www.SanDisk.com |
SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK), formerly SunDisk, is an American multinational corporation which designs and markets flash memory card products. SanDisk was founded in 1988 by Eli Harari and Sanjay Mehrotra, a non-volatile memory technology expert. SanDisk became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ in November 1995. SanDisk produces many different types of flash memory, including various memory cards and a series of USB removable drives. SanDisk markets to both the high and low-end quality flash memory.
The company is headquartered in Milpitas, California, with offices and manufacturing facilities worldwide such as its European headquarters in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Financial information
SanDisk is publicly traded on the NASDAQ. Its market capitalization is about US$ 9 billion.
SanDisk is a component of the GSTI Semiconductor Index
Acquisitions
- SanDisk bought msystems, a USB flash memory stick maker for US$1.3 billion.[1]
Products
- FlashCP
FlashCP is a digital rights management technology for the storage of electronic materials (e.g. e-books) on portable devices. FlashCP is targeted primarily at students and allows transportation of copyrighted material while enforcing copy restrictions against the user. SanDisk acquired the technology in 2005 with the purchase of Israel-based MDRM.
Currently, SanDisk manufacturers one drive that uses the FlashCP technology, called the Freedom Drive, and is part of the Cruzer line. Additionally, digital content can be downloaded to Cruzer Freedom from the SanDisk Plaza, a fast growing online store offering digital books, music, games, and education tools. Prices for on line products vary. Many selections are free. Once downloaded, the digital content may be used online and offline.
- SanDisk Products[2]
- Memory Stick Pro cards (2003)
- Memory Stick Pro Duo card
- CompactFlash cards (1994)
- MultiMediaCards (1997)
- RS-MMC (Reduced-Size MultiMediaCards) (2004)
- SD cards (2001), MiniSD Cards (2003), and MicroSD Cards (2005)
- USB flash drives
- SanDisk Sansa MP3 players
- USB memory card readers
- USB Smart Drives for Console and PC video gaming
As of January 2007, the complete Sansa line consists of the following:
- DAP - 256MB, 512MB, 1GB
- e100 - 512MB, 1GB
- m200 - 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB
- c100 - 1GB, 2GB
- c200 - 1GB, 2GB
- e200 - 2GB, 4GB, 6GB, 8GB
Manufacturing sites
MP3 license dispute
On September 4 2006 at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany authorities seized all MP3 players that were in SanDisk's booth since Italian patent company Sisvel had won an injunction against it.[3] Sisvel, who had previously filed a separate lawsuit in Mannheim, claims that SanDisk uses the MP3 format without paying the required licensing fee. On September 8, 2006, a Berlin court overturned the injunction and SanDisk put the players back on display.[4]
On March 16 2007 SanDisk issued a press release announcing they had reached agreement and now acquired licences for all current and future MP3 applications. [5]
See also
- Competitors
References
- ^ "SanDisk To Buy msystems". TheStreet.com. 2006-07-31. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
{{cite news}}: External link in|work= - ^ "SanDisk Innovation Timeline". SanDisk.com. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - ^ "SanDisk faces MP3 licence dispute". BBC News. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
- ^ "MP3 player court order overturned". BBC News. 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
- ^ "SISVEL and Audio MPEG Grant SanDisk an MPEG Audio Patents License". SanDisk. 2007-03-16. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
External links
- SanDisk website
- msystems website
- Business data for SanDisk Corporation: