User:Richard Michels/sandbox

This article is about MICRODIA Limited, a leader in flash memory data storage technologies.

MICRODIA Limited is an American (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation) that designs, develops and manufactures flash memory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory) data storage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_data_storage and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_memory) solutions. It was founded in 1991. The company’s headquarters are based in California (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California) and has more than half of its sales outside the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States). Its products are sold in over 35 countries. As of 2014, its market capitalization was over US$1.2 billion.

Contents Description History Timeline Core markets Key product lines Corporate social responsibility External links

DESCRIPTION: MICRODIA’s products include flash memory cards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_card), wi-fi SD adapters, On-The-Go USB flash drives, solid state drives, multimedia solutions, and mobile accessories incorporating the Bluetooth technology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_Special_Interest_Group), and power banks.

The company markets its products directly to businesses, distributors, and consumers.

It is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA. The company has manufacturing facilities in China, Japan and Korea. It also has sales and operations offices in the UK, the UAE, Germany, Taiwan, China and India. The company employs over 500 specialists around the world.

In 2007, Simon Yam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Yam) was appointed as official spokesperson for the Asia Pacific Region. He attended various photography-related trade fairs in Bejing, Shanghai and Hong Kong (http://digi.it.sohu.com/20070515/n250029303.shtml).

HISTORY: Established in 1991, USA, MICRODIA now has offices in the UK, the UAE, Germany, Taiwan and China. New offices in India were opened in 2014.

To date, MICRODIA operates 6 factories in Korea, Taiwan and China. The Group also works with major EMS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics_manufacturing_services) sub-contractors to deliver flash memory data storage products to the consumer, industrial, high-security and rugged applications markets. The company produces over 26 million units each month.

MICRODIA (Greater China) Ltd is the regional head office for the Group’s Asia Pacific and Greater China regional business units (RBUs). These 2 RBUs contribute major revenue to the Group. The Group’s 4 other strategic RBUs are MICRODIA (Americas), MICRODIA (Europe), MICRODA (MEA) and MICRODIA (Asia Pacific). MICRODIA Ltd is headquartered in the USA.

MICRODIA began as an OEM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_equipment_manufacturer), manufacturing magnetic floppy disks and compact discs, then became an ODM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_design_manufacturer), and is now an OBM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_brand_manufacturer), albeit, its OEM arm still remains a major revenue generator.

MICRODIA specialises in developing and creating high-speed flash memory data storage media and wireless products. Form factors include SSDs, CF Cards, SD Cards, microSD Cards, USB Flash Drives, PCIe, Wi-Fi HDDs, Wi-Fi Readers and Hubs. Each product is designed for photographic and mobile applications, personal computer, and industrial and high-security applications.

TIMELINE:

1991: MICRODIA was founded in San Jose, California, USA.

1992: At the time, MICRODIA was the biggest magnetic data storage media manufacture.

1995 – 1998: MICRODIA was the only company outside of Japan to manufacture optical data storage media CD-R (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM). The then-maximum capacity was 74 minutes or 650MB. During this period, MICRODIA was also the only company producing solid state memory products using NAND flash (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#NAND_flash) frame-kits.

2002: MICRODIA was one of the only two manufacturers in the world delivering 512MB in memory capacity.

2003: MICRODIA launched the 1GB SD and MMC Cards, as well introduced Wi-Fi products with 108bps, and Bluetooth products that could deliver voice and audio.

2004: MICRODIA launched AiroBlue G series which had one of the longest talk time of 14 hours.

2006: MICRODIA developed its proprietary EPM Technology TM and announced the world’s fastest read/write speed of 300X (http://www.pconline.com/market/bj/shoppingguide/cszq/0604/788592.html and http://www.pclady.com.cn/hunter/other/HK/luxing/0604/78784.html).

2007: MICRODIA introduced the world’s fastest (http://www.fengniao.com/59/592862.html) and highest 32GB Compact Flash Card and first to market with the 16GB SDHC card, and appointed Simon Yam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Yam) as lifetime spokesperson for the APAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia-Pacific) region (http://digi.it.sohu.com/20070515/n250029303.shtml).

2008: MICRODIA launched the world’s fastest sustained read / write speed highest capacity CF card – the 64GB XTRA Elite 300X CF, and 32GB SDHC, 16GB mini SDHC and micro SDHC.

2009: MICRODIA partnered with Universal Music Limited, and also partnered with Swarovski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarovski).

2010: MICRODIA received an award from the CEDF (China Enterprise Development Fund).

2011: MICRODIA relocated to The Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, and received an award from the Asian College of Management (http://www.ackm.hk/e/awards_corporateAward.php).

2013: MICRODIA opened the Shanghai FICE headquarters, launched the WiFyStation and the 1TB XQD FMC.

2014: MICRODIA launched the world’s highest capacity SD card – 256GB XTRA ELITE SD FMC, launched the MicroSSD, introduced portable internal and external SSDs, launched Rose-A-Roma, launched the WiFyStation and WiFyDisk series.

CORE MARKETS •	Mobile Communications Market •	Photography Market •	IT, Computer & Communications •	Education •	Government •	Industrial

KEY PRODUCT LINES

Flash Memory Cards •	XTRA Flash Memory Card Series •	XTRA – Made for Everyone to Enjoy, Count on, and Last •	XTRA Plus – Made for Serious Amateurs •	XTRA PRO – Made for Professional Photographers •	XTRA ELITE – Made for High Profile Professional Photographers

Card Readers •	FlashMover

USB Flash Drives •	myFlashKey 3.0 •	myFlashkey 2.0

M+ Solid State Drives •	M+ Micro SSD •	M+ Mini SSD •	M+ Portable SSD

Mobile Products with Bluetooth Technology •	AiroBlue Headsets •	AiroBlue In-Car Solar Charger

•	Power Banks iPower Juicy •	iPower Juicy Plus •	iPower Apollo

SEE ALSO Flash Memory Cards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_card) USB Flash Drives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive) Solid State Drives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive)

REFERENCES Akihabara News - http://en.ja.akihabaranews.com/12176/legacy-unused/pc/16gb-sdhc-card-by-microdia Trendy Gadget: http://www.trendygadget.com/2007/05/07/16gb-microdia-sdhc-will-hit-japan-this-month/ Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/tag/microdia/ HKTDC: http://www.hktdc.com/manufacturers-suppliers/Microdia-Asia-Pacific-Ltd/en/1X05PJ69/ Fair Daily, Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) 2008, HKDTC: http://fairdaily.hktdc.com/hkelectronicsfairse08/issue1C.htm IXBT Labs: http://ixbtlabs.com/news.html?09/19/74 3R Memory: http://www.3rmemory.ru/company/vendors/microdia/ Let’s Go Digital: http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/16717/16gb-sdhc/ Gigazine - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-lMKx_7r8w Gigazine: http://gigazine.net/news/20070509_microdia/

EXTERNAL LINKS Official website: www.microdia.com