Verbatim is a brand for storage media and flash memory products currently owned by CMC Magnetics Corporation, a Taiwanese company that is known for optical disc manufacturing. An agreement was announced in 2019 to sell the global business and assets of Verbatim to CMC Magnetics Corporation, Taiwan at an estimated price of $32 million. Originally an American company and well known for its floppy disks in the 1970s and 1980s, Verbatim is today one of the best-known brand names for recordable optical media. It was named the leading brand globally in the market in 2005, and are known for their patented azo dye, which is regarded as being high in quality.
History
The original Verbatim first started in Mountain View, California in 1969, under the name Information Terminals Corporation, founded by Reid Anderson. It grew and became a leading manufacturer of floppy disks by the end of the 1970s, and was soon renamed Verbatim. In 1982 it formed a floppy diskjoint venture with Japanese companyMitsubishi Kasei Corporation, with the joint venture called Kasei Verbatim. Verbatim mostly struggled in the decade and was purchased by Eastman Kodak in 1985, while its floppy partnership with Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation was still intact. It was eventually purchased fully by Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation in March 1990, after eight years in a joint venture. Many new products were launched under the new Japanese ownership, and the brand saw immense growth in the decade. Mitsubishi Kagaku Media was founded in October 1994 as a subsidiary through the merger of Mitsubishi Kasei and Mitsubishi Petrochemical, resulting in Mitsubishi Chemical. The new company absorbed the former American company and created a new Japanese entity, whilst the old Verbatim brand lived on. In addition, Mitubishi Kagaku Media sell products under the Freecom brand. Freecom was founded in Berlin, Germany in 1989 and had been based in the Netherlands when it was purchased by Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings in September 2009. The company was selling products under the Mitsubishi brand in Japan from 1994 to 2010, when Verbatim fully replaced it. ;Key dates
1969: Information Terminals Corporation, the predecessor to Verbatim, is founded in Mountain View, California, U.S.
1978: ITC is officially renamed Verbatim.
1979: Verbatim goes public; sales grow to $36 million.
1985: Eastman Kodak announces its $174 million bid for Verbatim.
1994: Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation and Mitsubishi Petrochemical Co., Ltd merge to create Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. End of the original Verbatim Corporation as it is turned into a new subsidiary, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media. Verbatim brand replaced by Mitsubishi in Japan.
1994: Verbatim enters a joint venture with Sanyo Laser Products.
Verbatim started its successful foray into the optical disc market in 1993 with CD-R media.
In 1997, Verbatim released the world's first CD-RW format media.
In 2001, Verbatim released the world's first DVD+R format media.
Introduced the first 8.5 GB DVD+R DL products in 2004, followed by DVD-R DL in 2005.
Verbatim launched a new product range of LED lights in 2010.
;Manufacturing and marketing These products are partly produced in Verbatim/Mitsubishi's own plants in Singapore and Japan, and partly under license by Taiwanese and Indian manufacturers. Their early floppies were manufactured at a factory in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, starting 1979. Verbatim also resells relabeled products from Japanese, Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese, Malaysian and Indian factories, including but not limited to products by Taiyo Yuden, Ritek Corporation, CMC Magnetics, Prodisc, Moser Baer, Daxon/BenQ. ;Technologies
Teflon coating for floppy disks.
Advanced Azo Dye Technology, first developed 1994.
SERL Super Eutectic Recording Layer technology for rewritable media.
