Memorex - Santa Clara, California Facilities
Many early Memorex documents are available at this link - http://mrxhist.org/DocIndex.html
Memorex became part of Burroughs Corporation in 1981. Parts of the Memorex business, that were less consistent with the Burroughs businesses, were sold off in later years. Memorex was an important acquisition to Burroughs and leveraging Memorex's success was important to the Burroughs business strategy.
(Much of the information provided about Memorex has been provided by Tom Gardner, VP of Equipment Manufacturing at Memorex at the time of acquisition in 1981. The following comment from Tom speaks to the time of the acquisition.)
"I was part of the Memorex team responding to Burroughs due diligence inquiries up to including working with Paul Stern at Memorex on the day of the Burroughs offer. It started in the summer of 1980 when I had just returned from Stanford GSB and was staff to the Equipment Group President. He had me put together a Memorex proposal to Burroughs to do a joint venture in peripheral equipment manufacturing to achieve manufacturing economies of scale (Memorex's IBM compatible equipment together with Burroughs similar equipment). It was turned down but Michael Blumenthal apparently resurrected it as an acquisition by Burroughs. Turns out someone at Burroughs (Paul Stern?) realized that although the Memorex designs were more expensive they were so much more reliable that lifetime economies greatly favored Memorex products. After the acquisition several Burroughs peripheral equipment organizations were incorporated into the Memorex structure within Burroughs."
----Tom Gardner
"I was part of the Memorex team responding to Burroughs due diligence inquiries up to including working with Paul Stern at Memorex on the day of the Burroughs offer. It started in the summer of 1980 when I had just returned from Stanford GSB and was staff to the Equipment Group President. He had me put together a Memorex proposal to Burroughs to do a joint venture in peripheral equipment manufacturing to achieve manufacturing economies of scale (Memorex's IBM compatible equipment together with Burroughs similar equipment). It was turned down but Michael Blumenthal apparently resurrected it as an acquisition by Burroughs. Turns out someone at Burroughs (Paul Stern?) realized that although the Memorex designs were more expensive they were so much more reliable that lifetime economies greatly favored Memorex products. After the acquisition several Burroughs peripheral equipment organizations were incorporated into the Memorex structure within Burroughs."
----Tom Gardner
Early Memorex History
It All Began in 1961
Memorex was incorporated in early 1961 That same year the company purchased it's first five acres of land on Shulman Avenue. During the next 12 months, a plant was built (it's nowa small part of the Tape Plant), an innovative production line put into operation, and a sales organization established. By mid-1962, Memorex's first product was on the market.
It was a computer tape of unknown merit, produced under an unknown name; but that wasn't the case for long. Within a year, Memorex sales of computer tapes were exceeded only by those companies which had been in the industry for 10 or more years.
In the following years, our products were improved with new formulations, marketing extended throughout the United States and into foreign countries, and manufacturing and research facilities expanded and upgraded. From the original 24 employees in 1961, Memorex grew to 900 by the end of 1966.
Having mastered the difficult chemistry and technique of oxide coating for tape, the company turned its experience to a new product field--the manufacture of disk packs. The timing was opportune. Our first packs went on the market in 1967, the year disk pack sales outstripped computer tape dollar volume in the industry.
Memorex's enterprise in disk pack technology evolved into the company's first entry into the equipment business. In November 1967, a prototype of the Memorex 630 Series Disk Drive was demonstrated at a national trade show. Soon thereafter, disk drive manufacturing became the cornerstone on which to build other and major equipment businesses.
The impact of these diversifications upon Memorex's sales potential was so significant that the company growth objective skyrocketed. Since that time, vigorous growth and expansion have characterized every aspect of the company.
(from a Memorex brochure - undated)
It All Began in 1961
Memorex was incorporated in early 1961 That same year the company purchased it's first five acres of land on Shulman Avenue. During the next 12 months, a plant was built (it's nowa small part of the Tape Plant), an innovative production line put into operation, and a sales organization established. By mid-1962, Memorex's first product was on the market.
It was a computer tape of unknown merit, produced under an unknown name; but that wasn't the case for long. Within a year, Memorex sales of computer tapes were exceeded only by those companies which had been in the industry for 10 or more years.
In the following years, our products were improved with new formulations, marketing extended throughout the United States and into foreign countries, and manufacturing and research facilities expanded and upgraded. From the original 24 employees in 1961, Memorex grew to 900 by the end of 1966.
Having mastered the difficult chemistry and technique of oxide coating for tape, the company turned its experience to a new product field--the manufacture of disk packs. The timing was opportune. Our first packs went on the market in 1967, the year disk pack sales outstripped computer tape dollar volume in the industry.
Memorex's enterprise in disk pack technology evolved into the company's first entry into the equipment business. In November 1967, a prototype of the Memorex 630 Series Disk Drive was demonstrated at a national trade show. Soon thereafter, disk drive manufacturing became the cornerstone on which to build other and major equipment businesses.
The impact of these diversifications upon Memorex's sales potential was so significant that the company growth objective skyrocketed. Since that time, vigorous growth and expansion have characterized every aspect of the company.
(from a Memorex brochure - undated)
Memorex History
Provided by Tom Gardner - 2011
Memorex Corporation founded in 1961 by Laurence L (Larry) Spitters and a group of entrepreneurs from Ampex Corporation initially successfully entered professional tape media markets. Memorex was the first computer industry start-up in Silicon Valley.
In the mid-1960s Memorex began a strategic plan to enter the computer systems business by first establishing its presence as a supplier of products plug-compatible to IBM systems and then using its established sales and service capabilities to offer complete computer systems.
A Consumer Products division established in 1970 made Memorex a household name with its 1972 campaign; Ella Fitzgerald and the shattering glass - '' Is it live or is it Memorex ? '' Pieces of such shattered glass are purported to be in the Smithsonian. Burroughs sold the consumer business in 1982; in 2006 it was acquired by Imation.
Memorex successfully executed the equipment into system strategy thru the early 1970s including significant successes in IBM plug-compatible disk storage and communications products. It continued as a leader in various media products. The Memorex system was introduced in April 1972. A series of extremely aggressive pricing and product actions by IBM reduced the profitability of Memorex’s equipment businesses to the point where corporate viability was questionable.
In July 1973 the Memorex system was withdrawn. In 1974 Robert C. (Bob) Wilson replaced Spitters as CEO and restructured the company in cooperation with the Bank Of America. During the 1970s Memorex successfully focused on media products and on IBM plug-compatible storage and communication products.
Wilson retired in 1979 and was replaced as CEO by Clarence W. (Clancy) Spangle. In 1981 Burroughs acquired Memorex and in 1986 Burroughs, upon acquiring Sperry Univac, renamed itself Unisys. Memorex continued into the 1980s in its three business lines but problems in all product lines, including a difficult transition to the 3380 class of plug-compatible disk subsystems and a complete miss in the then vigorous OEM disk drive markets led to the dismemberment of Memorex by Unisys in the late 1980’s.
Led by its international team under Giorgio Ronchi, most of Memorex spun out of Unisys, later becoming Memorex Telex N.V. It in turn was broken up in the middle 1990's. Many of Memorex's original international sales and service subsidiaries continue as subsidiaries of other companies, e.g. Memorex Telex Japan, Ltd, continued operations until 2007. The Memorex tape plant on Shulman Avenue in Santa Clara initially occupied in November 1961 was auctioned off in February 1994.
The disk drive business unit was spun out in late 1989 as Sequel, headed by Mike Haltom. It continued as a disk drive repair company and was acquired by Solectron in 1999.
In 2006 Imation acquired the brand from Hanny Holdings. Memorex as a consumer brand lives on; in 2016 the brand was acquired from Imation by DPI Inc., a St. Louis-based branded consumer electronics company for $9.4 million.