SanDisk Flash Memory For The Masses Dr. Eli Harari, an internationally recognized authority on non-volatile memory products, founded SanDisk in 1988. Since then, SanDisk has grown to become the world s number one supplier of flash memory data storage products. SanDisk designs, develops, manufactures and markets flash storage card products for a wide array of electronic devices. Flash memory s capability for storing large amounts of data in a compact and easily removable format has helped with the proliferation of digital consumer electronics. Constantly innovating, SanDisk is at the bleeding-edge of flash storage. Today, SanDisk has nearly 1,000 patents in the U.S. and internationally. Currently, SanDisk is the only company in the world that has the rights to both manufacture and sell every major flash card format, including CompactFlash , SD , miniSD , microSD , MultiMediaCard , Reduced Size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC ), Memory Stick PRO and related Memory Stick products, xD-Picture Card and USB flash drives. These rights have helped SanDisk brand become synonymous with high-quality removable memory. Always looking to take flash memory to new heights, SanDisk flash memory appeared on the U.S space shuttle in 1991. Other SanDisk first include introducing the CompactFlash card in 1994, SD card in 1999 and microSD card in 2005. After going public in 1995, SanDisk experience unparalleled growth. Early in the company s life, SanDisk realized that they had to expand internationally to experience the most growth. They did exactly this in 1993 by opening offices in Israel and the Netherlands amongst other countries. This forward thinking has helped SanDisk become one of the world s top technology companies.