Kingston's Background and History
Kingston: The OEM Of Memory
In the mid-1980s, the personal computer industry faced a crisis a severe
shortage of memory chips. PC makers drastically underestimated how quickly
the memory upgrade business would mature. They simply couldn't keep up with
the demand of memory-hungry computer users, especially in the corporate market
with its need for more-powerful desktop computers.
In 1987 Kingston Technology Corporation was formed to take advantage of this
new market for memory upgrades. Kingston engineers now design and manufacture
customized memory modules for more than 2,300 different models of personal
computers, servers, workstations, and printers.
To ensure the absolute quality and compatibility required by the
demanding corporate market, Kingston designs and optimizes each module for a
specific computer system. Customized memory modules guarantee 100% compatibility
and clearly distinguish Kingston from other memory suppliers. In fact Kingston is
widely perceived as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of memory throughout
the computer industry.
To achieve absolute quality control, Kingston tests 100% of its module designs
in the same system in which they will be used. As a leader in
quality control, Kingston developed specialized testing hardware and software
that enables 100% testing of its modules, even as product shipments now exceed
1,200 per day worldwide.
As proof of its commitment to quality, in 1994 Kingston was one of the first
companies to receive the computer industry's ISO (International Standardization
Organization) 9000 certification.
As a critical partner in the computer industry, Kingston works closely with
leading computer manufacturers to develop memory for each new generation of
computing systems. For high-end Intel Pentium-based PCs, Kingston is now
manufacturing modules that employ Extended Data Out memory technology and synchronous DRAM. As
faster microprocessors evolve, Kingston engineers are working on cutting-edge
technologies such as SRAM, or static RAM. Demand for SRAM is growing as the
architectural limitations of slower DRAM devices fail to keep up with new
microprocessors. SRAM architecture creates a memory "cache" which allows
faster microprocessors to access data more quickly.
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Memory Demand Soaring
The story of Kingston Technology, like the story of the semiconductor industry,
is one of explosive growth. Since l987 the semiconductor market has grown at
an annual rate of 35% percent. By the year 2000, total sales of semiconductors
are projected to reach $300 billion per year. Sales of memory products alone
are expected to represent 35% of that total.
Less than eight years after it was founded, Kingston Technology Corporation
surpassed the $1 billion mark in annual sales. Sales for 1996 are projected to
reach $2.1 billion.
A number of factors are spurring the demand for memory devices. One is the
increasing unit sales of desktop computers, at 20% per year. Another is the
emergence of faster microprocessors, which require more memory. Yet another
is the development of more-complex, memory-intensive software. And finally,
the more-demanding usage patterns of today's sophisticated computer users.
New operating systems, like Windows 95 and Windows NT, often require double
the memory of their predecessors. Multitasking and networking functionality
are now common on most PCs. Multimedia and 3D graphics applications are now
widely run from the desktop. While software advances continue, it is memory
that holds the key to productivity.
Today, many high-end graphics applications require up to 80 megabytes of
memory. High-performance servers may require up to 2 gigabytes. Without more
memory, companies and their computer users cannot deploy the latest generation
of powerful software and hardware.
A recent study by PC Computing presented compelling evidence of the role of
memory in individual productivity across a wide spectrum of professions. The
study found that adding even as little as four megabytes of memory made people
up to 26% more productive. Memory upgrades also pay for themselves as much as
26 times per year. As microprocessors grow faster, software becomes more
complex, and more companies understand the link between memory and
productivity, worldwide demand for memory will grow.
As the world's leading independent manufacturer of memory, Kingston Technology
is well positioned to take advantage of this growth. In addition to memory
products, Kingston also designs and manufactures a wide range of desktop
storage and networking products which provide unsurpassed quality and
reliability to companies of all sizes.
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Memory: A Critical Component
As the importance of memory has grown, Kingston's stature in the industry has
evolved as well. In the past 4 years, the average base memory per PC has
increased by 400%. In fact, by 1997 memory cost will represent more than 30%
of the total cost of the average PC. At the same time, OEMs are turning
increasingly to outsourcing for component manufacturing. Thus it appears that
many OEMs are prepared to embrace high-quality, branded components like memory,
much as they embraced high-quality branded microprocessors in the late 1980s.
Because of its reputation for outstanding quality, Kingston is poised to play
a major role as this transition occurs. Since its founding, Kingston's
relationships with OEMs have been critical to its success. Because memory
modules are essential building blocks to increasing a computer's performance,
the availability of high-quality memory modules is critical to both OEMs and
end users. From the outset Kingston demonstrated an understanding of the
technical issues that affect both the compatibility and quality of memory
devices. As an engineering company, Kingston sought to optimize the
performance of its memory products by designing them for individual computer
systems. As a result, Kingston product designs meet or exceed specifications
set by the OEMs.
Servers are powerful computing systems often used for a company's mission-critical
applications. Workstations are high-powered desktop systems favored by
sophisticated computer users who run memory-intensive software. Kingston
currently designs and manufactures server and workstation memory for leading
OEMs in response to the maturing of other markets and to complement its core
focus on distribution. The company often supplies the memory that is shipped
inside the PCs, workstations, and servers manufactured by the leading OEMs.
The fact that OEMs install Kingston memory in these systems is perhaps the
best proof of their confidence in the reliability of Kingston products. The
availability of high-quality memory modules allows OEMs to keep prices low
and at the same time offer their customers an easy upgrade path. By optimizing
each design for a particular system, Kingston maximizes both flexibility for
the end user and ensures the best use of end users' memory investment.
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Copyright © 1997 Kingston Technology Company. All Rights Reserved.


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