Established in 1961 in
Silicon ValleySilicon Valley is the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, United States. The term originally referred to the region's large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers, but eventually came to refer to all the high-tech businesses in the area; it is now...
,
Memorex is today a
consumer electronicsConsumer electronics include electronic equipment intended for everyday use. Consumer electronics are most often used in entertainment, communications and office productivity...
brand of
ImationImation is a US based multi-national corporation that designs, manufactures, sources or markets a wide range of recordable data storage media and consumer electronics products.The company is a 1996 spin off of 3M and is headquartered in Oakdale, Minnesota...
specializing in disk recordable media (CD & DVD Drives), travel drives, flash storage,
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
accessories and other
electronicsElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
.
Memorex entered the consumer business in 1971 first with its "shattering glass" advertisements and then with a series of famous television commercials featuring
Ella FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Lady Ella", and the "First Lady of Song", was an American jazz vocalist....
. In the commercials she would sing a note that shattered a glass while being recorded to a Memorex audio cassette.
Established in 1961 in
Silicon ValleySilicon Valley is the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, United States. The term originally referred to the region's large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers, but eventually came to refer to all the high-tech businesses in the area; it is now...
,
Memorex is today a
consumer electronicsConsumer electronics include electronic equipment intended for everyday use. Consumer electronics are most often used in entertainment, communications and office productivity...
brand of
ImationImation is a US based multi-national corporation that designs, manufactures, sources or markets a wide range of recordable data storage media and consumer electronics products.The company is a 1996 spin off of 3M and is headquartered in Oakdale, Minnesota...
specializing in disk recordable media (CD & DVD Drives), travel drives, flash storage,
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
accessories and other
electronicsElectronics is a branch of science and technology that deals with the controlled flow of electrons. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation,...
.
Memorex entered the consumer business in 1971 first with its "shattering glass" advertisements and then with a series of famous television commercials featuring
Ella FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Lady Ella", and the "First Lady of Song", was an American jazz vocalist....
. In the commercials she would sing a note that shattered a glass while being recorded to a Memorex audio cassette. The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking "Is it live, or is it Memorex?"
Memorex started by first selling computer and video tapes, then added other media (e.g. disk packs) and then added peripheral equipment for
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating...
mainframeMainframes are computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term probably had originated from the early mainframes, as...
s. During the 1970s and into the 1980s Memorex was worldwide a leading independent supplier of disk drives and communication controllers to users of IBM-compatible mainframes as well as a leading computer and consumer media supplier.
Memorex's peripheral equipment businesses missed the transition from mainframes to servers and
personal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
s. In the 1980s Memorex was dismembered by its then owners, first
BurroughsThe Burroughs Corporation was a major American manufacturer of business equipment. The company was founded in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company and was assimilated in the 1986 merger that resulted in the creation of Unisys. During its history the company's history paralled many of the...
and then
UnisysUnisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a global provider of information technology services and programs.-History:...
.
Unisys spun out the media, communications and IBM end user sales and service organization as Memorex. Subsequently Memorex merged with Telex becoming Memorex Telex NV, a corporation based in The Netherlands, which survived as an entity until the middle 1990s.. The company evolved into a provider of information technology solutions including the distribution and integration of data network and storage products and the provision of related services in 18 countries worldwide. As late as 2006, several pieces existed as subsidiaries of other companies, see e.g., Memorex Telex Japan Ltd a subsidiary of Kanematsu or Memorex Telex (UK) Ltd. a subsidiary of EDS Global Field Services.
Today, Memorex is an Imation brand for consumer electronics and accessories such as portable audio players, iPod® accessories, flat panel TVs, Blu-ray players, flash drives, CDs and DVDs. Few if any of these products are actually manufactured by Memorex or Imation, for example, CD-Rs are made by CMC Magnetics Corp of
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
, Ritek of
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
and
Moser BaerMoser Baer is the world's 2nd largest optical storage media manufacturer and supplies to the world's top dozen brands. They now make CD-R's for Memorex , TDK and Verbatim . They used to make CD-R's for Imation and Staples . The company was founded in New Delhi in 1983. 75% of its revenue comes...
of
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. CD-Rs were formerly made by Daxon of
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
and Prodisc Technology of
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
.
Timeline
- 1961 - Memorex is founded by Laurence L. Spitters
- 1962 - Memorex is first independent company to ship computer tape.
- 1966 - Memorex is first independent company to ship a disk pack.
- Jun 1968 - Memorex ships world's first IBM plug-compatible disk drive
- 1971 - Memorex collaborates with CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
to form CMX SystemsCMX Editing Systems was a company founded jointly by CBS and Memorex, that developed some of the very first computerized systems for linear and non-linear editing of videotape for post production...
, a company formed to design videotapeVideotape is a means of recording images and sound on to magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
editing systems
- Sep 1971 - Memorex launches its consumer business with shattering glass advertisements
- 1972 - Memorex launches its famous "Is it live, or is it Memorex?" campaign
- Apr 1981 - Burroughs acquires Memorex
- Apr 1982 - Burroughs sells Memorex consumer brand to Tandy
Tandy Corporation was a family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas, which is best known for purchasing and giving its name to the Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack Corporation. Tandy was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store, and acquired RadioShack in 1963...
- May 1985 - Burroughs exits OEM disk drive business, selling sales and service to Toshiba
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company's main business is in infrastructure, consumer products, electronic devices and components.Toshiba-made Semiconductors are among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders...
- Sep 1986 - Burroughs acquires Sperry
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century. Through a series of mergers they exist today as a portion of Unisys...
and renames itself as Unisys
- Dec 1986 - Unisys spins off Memorex Media, Telecommunications and International businesses as Memorex International NV
is the Dutch term for a public limited liability corporation. The company is owned by shareholders, and the company's shares are not registered to certain owners, so that they may be traded on the public stock market....
.
- Jan 1988 - Memorex-Telex merger
- Dec 1988 - Unisys mainly shuts down large disk business and spins off service and repair as Sequel.
- Nov 1993 - Tandy sells Memorex consumer brand to Hanny Holdings of Hong Kong
Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
- Jan 2006 - Hanny Holdings sells Memorex consumer brand to Imation
Imation is a US based multi-national corporation that designs, manufactures, sources or markets a wide range of recordable data storage media and consumer electronics products.The company is a 1996 spin off of 3M and is headquartered in Oakdale, Minnesota...
in an all-cash transaction.
External links