Sandisk

{{Infobox company

| name = Sandisk Corporation

| logo = SanDisk 2024 logo.svg

| image = WDC office (Milpitas, CA).jpg

| image_caption = Sandisk headquarters in Milpitas, pictured when it was a subsidiary of Western Digital

| former_name = {{ubli|SunDisk Corporation (1988{{nbndash}}1995)|SanDisk Corporation (1995{{nbndash}}2016; 2024{{nbndash}}present)|SanDisk LLC (2016{{nbndash}}2024)}}

| type = Public

| traded_as = {{ubl|{{NASDAQ|SNDK}}|S&P 600 component}}

| founded = {{start date and age|1988|6|1}}{{cite web |title=SanDisk LLC |url=https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx |website=General Information Name Search |publisher=Delaware Division of Corporations |id=File {{abbr|No.|Number}} 2162478 |access-date=April 27, 2024}}

| industry = Computer data storage

| brands = SanDisk Professional

| founders = {{plainlist|

}}

| hq_location_city = Milpitas, California

| hq_location_country = U.S.

| revenue = {{increase}} {{US$|6.66 billion|link=yes}}{{cite web | url=https://blocksandfiles.com/2025/02/25/western-digital-sandisk-and-elliott-management/ | title=Western Digital, Sandisk begin separate trading after split | date=February 25, 2025 }} (2024)

| num_employees = {{increase}} 8,790

| website = {{URL|sandisk.com}}

}}

Sandisk Corporation is an American multinational computer technology company based in Milpitas, California, that designs and manufactures flash memory products, including memory cards, USB flash drives, and solid-state drives. It was founded in 1988 as SunDisk by Eli Harari, Sanjay Mehrotra, and Jack Yuan. The company developed early flash storage technologies, including the first flash-based solid-state drive introduced in 1991. SunDisk changed its name to SanDisk in 1995 and subsequently held an initial public offering. In 2016, SanDisk was acquired by Western Digital. In 2025, Western Digital spun off its flash storage business as an independent public company under the Sandisk name.

History

File:SanDisk-Logo.svg

File:SanDisk Logo 2007.svg

The company was originally founded in 1988 as SunDisk by Eli Harari, Sanjay Mehrotra, and Jack Yuan.{{Cite news|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9868280?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com|title=Mercury News interview: SanDisk CEO helped launch digital revolution|last=Harris|first=Scott Duke|date=July 13, 2008|work=The San Jose Mercury News|access-date=August 6, 2008}}

SanDisk co-founder Eli Harari developed the Floating Gate EEPROM which proved the practicality, reliability and endurance of semiconductor-based data storage.{{Cite news | publisher = IEEE Electron Devices Society |title= Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting: 'Future Directions for Semiconductor Non-Volatile Memory |location= Santa Clara University |date= January 16, 1990}}

In 1991, SanDisk produced the first flash-based solid-state drive (SSD) in a 2.5-inch hard disk drive form factor for IBM with a 20 MB capacity priced at about $1,000.{{cite web|url=https://www.westerndigital.com/company/innovations/history|title=A History of Innovation|date=1991|website=Western Digital|access-date=March 28, 2019}}

In 1992, SanDisk introduced FlashDisk, a series of memory cards made for the PCMCIA or PC card form factor, so they could be inserted into the expansion slots of many laptops and handheld PCs of the time. Unlike other similar products at the time, FlashDisks did not require a battery to store their contents. SanDisk discontinued their production in 2002, and the highest capacity model had 8 gigabytes of capacity.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/25-years-of-compactflash-a-look-back-at-the-pioneering-format|title=25 Years of CompactFlash: A Look Back at the Pioneering Format|website=PCMAG|date=July 11, 2019 }}

On November 8, 1995, SunDisk changed its name to SanDisk to avoid confusion with Sun Microsystems, and went public under the new name via an initial public offering, marking the company's first tenure on the Nasdaq under the stock ticker SNDK. 16 million shares were traded at a price of $10.00 per share.

On May 10, 2000, the Toshiba Corporation of Japan and the SanDisk Corporation said that they would jointly form a new semiconductor company to produce advanced flash memory, primarily for digital cameras.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/10/business/toshiba-and-sandisk-enter-joint-venture.html|title=Toshiba and SanDisk Enter Joint Venture|date=May 10, 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 24, 2019|agency=Reuters|issn=0362-4331}}

In 2005 SanDisk entered the digital audio player market with the release of its first flash-based MP3 player, the SanDisk Sansa e100.{{Cite web|url=https://phys.org/news/2005-05-sandisk-sansa-mp3-players.html|title=New SanDisk Sansa Mp3 Players|website=phys.org}} As soon as 2006, they became the second largest maker of digital audio players in the United States behind Apple.{{Cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115611491491940550 | title=SanDisk Raises Music-Player Stakes | newspaper=Wall Street Journal | date=August 21, 2006 | last1=Wingfield | first1=Nick }}

In October 2005, SanDisk acquired Matrix Semiconductor.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnet.com/news/sandisk-to-acquire-matrix-semiconductor/|title=SanDisk to acquire Matrix Semiconductor|last=Kawamoto|first=Dawn|date=October 21, 2005|website=CNET|access-date=August 3, 2016}} In July 2006, SanDisk acquired M-Systems.{{Cite news|title=SanDisk To Buy msystems |publisher=The Street |date=July 31, 2006 |url=http://www.thestreet.com/_iwon/newsanalysis/techsemis/10300419.html?cf=WSIWON1111051500 |access-date=August 21, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930200853/http://www.thestreet.com/_iwon/newsanalysis/techsemis/10300419.html?cf=WSIWON1111051500 |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }} In May 2011, SanDisk acquired Pliant Technology, a manufacturer of solid state drives, for $327 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.crn.com/news/storage/229500688/sandisk-plans-to-buy-ssd-maker-pliant-technology.htm|title=SanDisk Plans To Buy SSD Maker Pliant Technology|last=Kovar|first=Joseph F.|date=May 16, 2011|website=CRN.com|access-date=August 3, 2016}} In February 2012, SanDisk acquired FlashSoft. In June 2012, SanDisk acquired Schooner Information Technology, developer of the flash-optimized database software SchoonerSQL and caching software Membrain.{{cite web|url=http://www.crn.com/news/storage/240002788/sandisk-buys-schooner-moves-into-enterprise-software-space.htm|title=SanDisk Buys Schooner, Moves Into Enterprise Software Space|last=Kovar|first=Joseph F.|date=June 27, 2012|website=CRN.com|access-date=August 3, 2016}} In July 2013, SanDisk acquired SMART Storage Systems, a producer of SSDs for the enterprise market, for $307 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/sandisk-acquires-smart-storage-systems-for-307-million/|title=SanDisk acquires SMART Storage Systems for $307 million|last=Dignan|first=Larry|date=July 2, 2013|website=ZDNet|access-date=August 3, 2016}} In June 2014, SanDisk acquired Fusion-io, a producer of flash memory for enterprise data centers, for $1.1 billion.{{cite web|url=http://www.recode.net/2014/6/16/11628008/sandisk-to-acquire-troubled-fusion-io-for-1-2-billion|title=SanDisk to Acquire Troubled Fusion-io for $1.2 Billion|last=Hesseldahl|first=Arik|date=June 16, 2014|website=Recode|publisher=Vox Media|access-date=August 3, 2016}}

In 2012, the Enough Project ranked SanDisk the third highest of 24 consumer electronics companies on "progress on conflict minerals".{{cite web|url=http://www.enoughproject.org/files/CorporateRankings2012.pdf|title=Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets: Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012|last1=Lezhnev|first1=Sasha|last2=Hellmuth|first2=Alex|date=Aug 2012|website=Enough Project|access-date=August 17, 2012}}

In 2014, SanDisk co-founder Harari won the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama for his innovations and contributions to flash memory storage.{{Cite web|url=https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2014/10/24/eli-harari-73-receives-honor-president-obama|title=Eli Harari *73 receives honor from President Obama|last=Fairsmith|first=Christine|date=October 24, 2014|website=School of Engineering and Applied Science|publisher=Princeton University|access-date=July 24, 2019}}

On January 8, 2015, NexGen Storage, which had been acquired by Fusion-io, was spun out as an independent company;{{cite web |url= http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/press-room/press-releases/2015/sandisk-completes-spin-out-of-the-companys-iocontrol-solutions-business/ |title= SanDisk Completes Spin-Out of the Company's ioControl Solutions Business |work= Press release |date= January 8, 2015 |publisher= SanDisk |accessdate= November 21, 2016 |archive-date= January 17, 2015 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20150117162731/http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/press-room/press-releases/2015/sandisk-completes-spin-out-of-the-companys-iocontrol-solutions-business/ |url-status= bot: unknown }} it would be acquired by Pivot3 in January 2016.{{Cite web |title= Pivot3 To Acquire NexGen Storage, Bring Storage QoS To Hyper-Converged Infrastructure |author= Joseph F. Kovar |date= January 27, 2016 |work= CRN |url= http://www.crn.com/news/storage/300079523/pivot3-to-acquire-nexgen-storage-bring-storage-qos-to-hyper-converged-infrastructure.htm |accessdate= February 16, 2022 }}

In October 2015, Western Digital announced its intent to acquire SanDisk for $19 billion.{{Cite web |last=Kastrenakes |first=Jacob |date=2015-10-21 |title=Western Digital is buying flash storage maker SanDisk for $19 billion |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/21/9582148/sandisk-western-digital-acquisition-agreement |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}} The acquisition was completed on May 12, 2016; the valuation was lowered to $16 billion after Chinese company Unisplendour pulled out of an agreement to acquire a 15% stake in WD.{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/12/11662018/western-digital-sandisk-deal-complete|title=Western Digital Officially Closes SanDisk Acquisition|last=Vincent|first=James|date=May 12, 2016|website=The Verge|publisher=Vox Media|access-date=August 3, 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Mozur |first=Paul |date=30 September 2015 |title=Unisplendour of China Buys 15% Stake in Western Digital |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/technology/unisplendour-of-china-buys-15-stake-in-western-digital.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205154036/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/technology/unisplendour-of-china-buys-15-stake-in-western-digital.html |archive-date=5 December 2023 |access-date=6 October 2024 |website=The New York Times}}

In October 2023, Western Digital announced its intent to spin off its flash storage businesses as a new public company under the SanDisk name, leaving WD focused solely on hard drives. In addition to SanDisk-branded products, the spin-off would also include all flash storage products that were marketed under the WD branding. The company began preparations for the split in October 2024, when all product listings and information for WD-branded flash storage products were moved under the SanDisk website.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Wayne |date=2024-10-16 |title=Is this the end of WD as an SSD brand? SanDisk takes over SSD, memory cards and USB flash drives from Western Digital as company cements split |url=https://www.techradar.com/pro/is-it-the-end-of-wd-as-an-ssd-brand-sandisk-takes-over-ssd-memory-cards-and-usb-flash-drives-from-western-digital-as-company-cements-split-of-its-business |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=TechRadar |language=en}}{{Cite news |last1=A |first1=Samrhitha |last2=Soni |first2=Aditya |date=October 30, 2023 |title=Western Digital to split flash memory unit, refinance debt |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/western-digital-separate-into-two-companies-2023-10-30/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |work=Reuters}} In December 2024, SanDisk unveiled a new pixel-inspired logo (replacing a design used in various forms since 1995), changing its stylization to "Sandisk".{{Cite web |last=Shakir |first=Umar |date=2024-12-19 |title=Here comes Sandisk with a rebrand |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/19/24324603/sandisk-rebrand-new-logo |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}}

The split was completed on February 24, 2025, with Sandisk Corporation relisted on the Nasdaq for the first time since its 2016 acquisition by WD (under the same ticker symbol from its 1995 IPO to its 2016 acquisition by WD, SNDK), and WD CEO David Goeckeler moving to the new company. WD continues to hold an equity stake in Sandisk.{{Cite web |last=Kovar |first=Joseph F. |title=Western Digital Splits In Two As Sandisk Reemerges |url=https://www.crn.com/news/storage/2025/western-digital-splits-in-two-as-sandisk-reemerges |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=CRN.com}}