Caelus Memories
{{Short description|Defunct American data storage company}}
{{Infobox company
| name=Caelus Memories, Inc.
| logo=Caelus Memories logo.png
| logo_upright=0.5
| type={{ubl|Private (1967–1969)|Subsidiary (1969–1985)}}
| founded={{start date and age|1967}} in San Jose, California, United States
| founder={{ubl|Philippe Yaconelli|William Benz|Sung Pal Chur|William Sousa}}
| defunct={{end date and age|1985}}
| fate=Acquired by Electronic Memories & Magnetics, themselves acquired by Titan Systems
| parent=Electronic Memories & Magnetics (1969–1985)
| industry=Computer
}}
Caelus Memories, Inc., was an American computer hardware company active from 1967 to 1985 and based in San Jose, California. The company focused on the manufacturing of magnetic data storage media, primarily disk packs. For a time, it was the second-largest manufacturer of disk packs in the world, designing units plug-compatible with IBM and Univac mainframes.{{cite journal | last=Upton | first=Molly | title=Caelus Plans 3336-11-Type Disk, Will 'Wait and See' on Winchester | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=VII | issue=44 | page=34 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYmeRiv3ZxgC&pg=PT33 | date=October 31, 1973 | via=Google Books}} In 1969, Caelus was acquired in whole by Electronic Memories & Magnetics; the latter was later acquired by Titan Systems in 1985.
History
File:Caelus Memories CD22 CDD44 brochure (1971) page 3.jpg
Caelus Memories was principally founded by Philippe Yaconelli in 1967 in San Jose, California.{{cite journal | date=January 21, 1969 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune-electronics/141009137/ | title=Electronics Memories acquires San Jose firm | journal=Palo Alto Times | page=7 | via=Newspapers.com}} Yaconelli had previously worked for Memorex, where he was one of their first employees, working in Memorex's sales division since 1962.{{cite journal | last=Spiedel | first=Marge | date=June 20, 1973 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune-memorex-aide/141010310/ | title=Memorex aide sees self as motivator | journal=Palo Alto Times | page=9 | via=Newspapers.com}} With several other employees from IBM, including William Benz, Sung Pal Chur, and William Sousa, Yaconelli founded Caelus with $200,000 of their own capital, with a further $1.8 million supplied by Electronic Memories & Magnetics (EM&M), a computer memory firm also based in San Jose.{{cite journal | date=September 20, 1967 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1967-09-20_1_6/page/n6/ | title=Thinking of Starting Your Own Business? | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=I | issue=6 | page=7 | via=the Internet Archive}} Whereas EM&M was a more-diversified firm producing magnetic tape subsystems, core memory, and expansion cards in service of data storage devices, Caleus was chiefly focused on hard disk drive products, namely disk packs.{{cite journal | date=September 20, 1967 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1967-09-20_1_6/ | title=January Deliveries From Caelus: Another Independent Disk-Pack Supplier | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=1 | issue=6 | pages=1, 4 | via=the Internet Archive}}
In September 1967, the company began pilot production of disk packs plug-compatible with IBM's offerings, occupying a facility in San Jose that cost the founders $750,000 to build. Yaconelli described their relationship with IBM as symbiotic in 1967, with the latter eager to supply the licenses for their disk pack patents. Helped by this relationship, Caleus became the second-largest manufacturer of disk packs in the world by July 1968, trailing only IBM.{{cite journal | date=July 12, 1968 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-attack-on-computer-d/141008877/ | title=Attack on computer disc packs market | journal=The Daily Telegraph | page=3 | via=Newspapers.com}} This was only five months after achieving full-scale production from their San Jose facility.{{cite journal | date=February 1968 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1968-02-21_2_8/ | title=Paper Supplier Now Selling Disk-Packs | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=2 | issue=8 | page=1 | via=the Internet Archive}} The company both sold their drives to end users via distributors as well as taking volume orders from OEM resellers. With a capacity to manufacture up to 40,000 packs per year, Caelus generated roughly £2 million in revenues in less than a year after opening.
Caelus' steady rise was punctuated by their acquisition in full by EM&M in January 1969.{{cite journal | date=January 19, 1969 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-caelus-acquired-fo/141009048/ | title=Caelus Acquired for Electronic Memories Stock | journal=Los Angeles Times | page=104 | via=Newspapers.com}} The terms of the acquisition were reportedly $3 million in a stock swap.{{cite journal | date=January 21, 1969 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-recorder-wall-street-news-brie/141009097/ | title=Wall Street News Briefs: Electronic Memories | journal=The Times Recorder | page=15 | via=Newspapers.com}} Following the acquisition, Caelus became a subsidiary of EM&M.{{cite journal | date=July 19, 1970 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-office-complex-draws-tenants/141009639/ | title=Office Complex Draws Tenants | journal=The Record | page=31 | via=Newspapers.com}} Yaconelli left to found his second venture, Katun Corporation, a systems integration company, in San Jose.{{cite journal | date=February 12, 1970 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune-katun-new-co/141009463/ | title=Katun new computer firm in SF | journal=Palo Alto Times | page=10 | via=Newspapers.com}} He eventually returned to Memorex, becoming their VP of marketing.
The company shirked developing any Winchester-style drives, preferring to stay loyal with traditional disk packs despite Winchesters steadily overtaking market share since its invention in the early 1970s by IBM. In 1976, Sperry Rand acquired Caelus' San Jose factory from EM&M for an undisclosed sum.{{cite book | last=Fisher | first=Franklin M. | date=1983 | url=https://archive.org/details/ibmusdataprocess0000fish/page/395/ | title=IBM and the U.S. Data Processing Industry: An Economic History | publisher=Praeger | page=395 | isbn=9780275909796 | via=Google Books}} Caelus continued to operate as a subsidiary from EM&M's Encino headquarters but stagnated until 1978 when EM&M charged the executive Ed Farris with a turnaround of the division.{{cite journal | date=May 1, 1978 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_blY9oI5CYC&pg=PA73 | title=EMM Officer Turns Around Caelus Operation | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=XII | issue=18 | page=73 | via=Google Books}} Caelus continued to lead the disk pack market until their parent company EM&M was acquired by Titan Systems in 1985.{{cite journal | date=October 30, 1978 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rjw-YqqGLnYC&pg=PA43 | title=Media, Supply Vendors Graded in User Survey | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=XII | issue=44 | page=43 | via=Google Books}}{{cite web | date=n.d. | url=https://waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/people/8279/electronic-memories-and-magnetics-corporation | title=Electronic Memories and Magnetics Corporation | work=Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments | publisher=Harvard University}}
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Hard disk drive manufacturers}}
Category:1967 establishments in California
Category:1985 disestablishments in California
Category:American companies established in 1967
Category:American companies disestablished in 1985
Category:Computer companies established in 1967
Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1985
Category:Computer storage companies
Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States