Kingston Technology Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Kingston Technology Corporation

Sign at top of Fountain Valley headquarters, pictured in 2007
Type	Private
Industry	Storage devices
Founded	1987; 38 years ago (1987) in Fountain Valley, California, United States
Founders	John Tu David Sun
Headquarters	Fountain Valley, California , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	John Tu (President) David Sun (COO)
Products	Flash memory cards USB flash drives DIMMs Digital Audio Players SIM cards Solid-state drives
Revenue	US$12.8 billion (2020)
Number of employees	3,000 (2015)

Kingston Technology Corporation is a large American company. It makes and sells many computer parts. These include memory for computers and flash drives. You might know them for their USB sticks or memory cards. Kingston is based in Fountain Valley, California, USA. They have over 3,000 employees around the world. Their factories are in the US, UK, Ireland, Taiwan, and China.

Kingston is the largest independent maker of DRAM memory modules. This means they make a lot of the memory chips used in computers. In 2017, they made about 68% of these memory modules worldwide. The company works with distributors, stores, and other companies all over the world. They also help other companies make and manage their computer parts.

History
- Growth and Expansion
- The 2000s and Beyond
Awards and Cool Facts
What Products Does Kingston Make?
See also

History

Kingston Technology started on October 17, 1987. There was a big shortage of memory chips at the time. Two friends, John Tu and David Sun, found a clever way to make memory modules. They used older, easier-to-find parts. This helped solve the chip shortage.

In 1990, Kingston started making other products. They made upgrades for computer processors. By 1992, Inc. magazine called Kingston the fastest-growing private company in America. The company then started making networking and storage products. They also introduced portable products like DataTraveler. In 1994, Kingston earned an ISO 9000 quality certification.

Growth and Expansion

In 1995, Kingston opened an office in Munich, Germany. This helped them support customers in Europe. In October 1995, Kingston's sales went over $1.3 billion. They even put out ads to thank their employees. The ads said "Thanks a Billion!" and listed every employee's name.

In August 1996, a Japanese company called SoftBank bought 80% of Kingston. Later that year, Kingston worked with Toshiba to make memory upgrades for Toshiba computers. This was a big deal because it was the first time a computer maker and a memory maker teamed up. In 1999, John Tu and David Sun bought back the 80% of Kingston from Softbank.

After the sale in 1996, John Tu and David Sun gave $71.5 million in bonuses to their employees. This meant each of the 550 workers got about $130,000. Kingston also opened its European headquarters in London, UK, in 1996.

In 1997, Kingston opened new offices and factories. They opened a factory in Taiwan and offices in Japan and Dublin, Ireland. They also bought more manufacturing buildings in California. Kingston also launched ValueRAM. This was a high-quality, low-cost memory for computer builders.

The 2000s and Beyond

In 1999, Kingston started a sister company called Advanced Validation Labs, Inc. (AVL). This company checks if memory works correctly. In 2000, Kingston's storage products division became a separate company called StorCase Technology, Inc.

In 2002, Kingston launched a new line of high-performance memory. It was called HyperX. They also invented a special way to stack computer chips. Kingston also invested $50 million in another memory company called Elpida.

By 2004, Kingston's yearly sales were $1.8 billion. They released new secure USB drives. These drives had special hardware to keep data safe. In 2005, Kingston opened the world's largest memory module factory in Shanghai, China.

In 2006, Kingston made USB drives with strong security. They also made new memory modules called FBDIMMs. These modules could hold more than 16 GB of data. Kingston also started making portable media players.

Kingston continued to grow through the 2000s and 2010s. They were often ranked as the number one memory module maker in the world. They kept making faster and larger USB drives. In 2013, they made a 1 TB USB 3.0 Flash Drive. That's a huge amount of storage!

In 2014, Kingston's HyperX brand released FURY memory for gamers. They also launched their first Cloud headset. HyperX even set a world record for memory speed. In 2015, HyperX continued to make very fast memory and headsets.

In 2016, Kingston bought the USB technology from a company called IronKey. This helped them make even more secure USB drives. In 2021, Kingston sold its HyperX gaming division to HP Inc.. However, Kingston still owns the memory and storage products. They renamed these products to Kingston FURY.

Awards and Cool Facts

Kingston has won many awards over the years. They have been ranked as the world's number-one memory module maker for many years in a row. In 2007, the founders received a special award from Inc. magazine.

Kingston has also been recognized for its quality and support. They received an "Outstanding Supplier Award" from Intel. Dell also gave them an award for "Best Overall Performance." The company was also known as a great place to work. Fortune magazine listed Kingston as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for five years.

Kingston is often listed among America's largest private companies by Forbes magazine. Many professional gamers use Kingston's HyperX products.

What Products Does Kingston Make?

Kingston makes many different products for computers and other devices:

Computer Memory: They make memory upgrades for specific computers. They also make ValueRAM for people who build computers.
Digital Audio Players: These are devices that play music.
Flash Memory: This includes SD cards, Compact Flash cards, USB Flash Drives, and Solid-state drives (SSDs). These are used in cameras, phones, and computers.
Mobile Phone Memory: Small memory cards for phones.
Printer Memory: Memory upgrades for computer printers.
Server Memory: Memory for powerful computers called servers.
Wireless Storage Products: Devices like Wi-Drive and MobileLite Wireless readers. These let you store and share files wirelessly with smartphones and tablets.