Kingston Technology, a world
leader in memory storage products and technology solutions, announces today
that it celebrates its 30th year in the business as an innovative technology
hardware provider for computers and devices. Kingston was co-founded on October
17, 1987, by CEO John Tu and COO David Sun. The two co-founders continue to
guide the company and remain very active in day-to-day operations.
The entrepreneurial spirit of
both owners and the success of the company have been recognized globally
through the years. Kingston’s core tenets of respect, loyalty, flexibility and
integrity have created an exemplary corporate culture — one that guides its
relationships with customers, partners and vendors, and to which Kingston owes
its success. The company continues to be the largest supplier of DRAM modules
among non-semiconductor manufacturers and a leading maker of Flash memory
products — especially SSDs — where it has become a dominant force among
consumers and organizations alike looking to upgrade existing systems and data
centers.
Kingston manufactured just
one product when it started in 1987 and has steadily and strategically evolved
as a company by controlling as much of the production cycle as possible — from
initial wafer processing through finished product — for both DRAM and Flash.
The company has done this through expansion, strategic investments,
partnerships and adapting to industry needs as early as possible.
Seeing SSDs as the future for
hard drives in both client PCs and data centers, the company began offering SSD
products in 2009 and last year analyst firm Forward Insights cited Kingston as
the second-largest supplier of SSDs in the channel. The company also saw the
growing demand for smart phones, tablets, IoT-based devices and wearables. In
2010, it formed Kingston Solutions, Inc. (KSI), which manufactures embedded
memory products (single-chip storage and controller solutions) that go into
lighter and thinner everyday consumer devices. Today, KSI is the leader in
embedded solutions for second-tier smart phone manufacturers.
The product portfolio has
further expanded in recent years to headsets, keyboards, mice and mouse pads
via its HyperX gaming brand, and the innovative products have rapidly gained
accolades and acceptance among professional gamers and pro sports athletes. It
took only two years for HyperX to ship its 1-millionth gaming headset. Today,
Kingston through all its brands and product categories offers over 2,000
quality technology solutions and ships to more than 120 countries. It is a
widely recognized and accepted brand known the world over.
“David
(Sun) and I were almost broke when we started this little company 30 years ago
and there weren’t that many people doing what we did outside of the big PC
makers,” said John Tu, CEO and co-founder, Kingston. “We had no idea how it
would turn out but due to lots of luck and people whom we previously worked
with who liked and helped us, we were able to slowly grow and build up a
successful organization. I feel very blessed and fortunate every day I come
into the office.”
“Our good fortune as a
company is due to the hard work of our employees and the respect we have for
each other. When John (Tu) and I started this company, we wanted everyone who
worked here to feel like they are part of a family,” said David Sun, COO and
co-founder, Kingston. “Our philosophy for the last 30 years has been, ‘If we
take care of our employees and vendors, they will take care of our customers.’
This has not changed and none of Kingston’s success happens without family.”
From
1987 to Today: The Growth of Kingston
- 1987: Kingston begins
operations in Orange County, Calif., with a new Single In-Line Memory Module
(SIMM) that creates an industry standard for memory modules.
- 1992: Kingston is ranked by
Inc. magazine as the fastest-growing privately held company in America.
- 1995: Kingston opens its
first overseas office in Munich, Germany to better provide support to its
European customers.
- 1995: Kingston joins the
Billion-Dollar Club as sales exceed $1.3 billion (USD).
- 1996: Kingston and Toshiba
co-Market memory upgrades for Toshiba PCs. This is the first time ever that a
PC OEM and a memory manufacturer teamup.
- 1997: Kingston expands its
global footprint as it establishes the headquarters for Asia-Pacific operations
including a manufacturing facility and offices in Taiwan. Kingston also opens
its first office to serve South American customers in Brazil. Its European
headquarters move to the United Kingdom and a manufacturing/logistics facility
in Dublin, Ireland is opened.
- 1997: Kingston Technology
Services Division (KTSD) is formed to exclusively work and manufacture memory
solutions directly for OEM customers such as Dell.
- 1999: Kingston purchases a
controlling interest in Powertech Technology, Inc., now the world’s largest
back end wafer and chip packaging and testing facility for both DRAM and Flash.
The purchase further strengthens Kingston’s ability to control all facets of
the memory-manufacturing cycle from wafer to finished good.
- 1999: Kingston strategically
opens its Mexico office to support a growing region.
- 2000: Advanced Validation
Labs, Inc. (AVL) is launched as an independent memory testing and validation
lab. Its “one-stop shop” services cover component level to module testing to
support the entire memory industry.
- 2000: Payton Technology
Inc. is established to help manage Kingston’s memory supply chain as well as
supply back end wafer processing services making the company more efficient in
delivering memory solutions to its rapidly expanding client base.
- 2001: Kingston begins
assembling memory modules in Shanghai, China.
- 2002: HyperX begins with
its first product, high-performance memory modules.
- 2003: Kingston begins
shipping Flash memory products.
- 2004: iSuppli (now IHS
Markit®) ranks Kingston as the world’s No. 1 memory module manufacturer for the
third-party memory market, a streak that has continued each year to date
uninterrupted.
- 2005: Kingston opens the
world’s largest memory module manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China.
- 2006: Kingston revenue
reaches $3 billion (USD).
- 2009: Kingston’s
Asia-Pacific region reaches the $1 billion (USD) mark in sales for the first
time.
- 2010: Kingston and Phison
Electronics Corporation form Kingston Solutions, Inc., a joint venture manufacturing
embedded memory products for the emerging mobile industry.
- 2010: Kingston revenue
reaches a new record high of $6.5 billion (USD).
- 2013: Gartner Research
ranks Kingston as the No. 1 USB manufacturer for the 6th straight year.
- 2013: Kingston ships the
world’s largest and first 1TB USB Flash drive.
- 2014: HyperX launches its
first gaming headset.
- 2016: HyperX sells its
1-millionth headset.
- 2017: Kingston ships the
world’s largest and first 2TB USB Flash drive.
- 2017: Kingston ships the second-most
SSDs in the channel in 2016 according to Forward Insights.
- 2017: Kingston celebrates
its 30th anniversary on October 17.
For more information about
the product(s), please visit the Kingston website (click here).
*Disclosure: An important note, we are just sharing this information to the public, provided by our source. Kingston - Info / Logos / Photos / Images has respective copyrights.
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