Keeps Looking Ahead
Celebrating 32 Years of Innovation: A Letter from our Chairman
Spring 2023 / MICRODIA
The year 2023 is MICRODIA’s 32nd anniversary. Going from start-up to scale-up calls for celebration. It also calls for forward thinking because, without question, our greatest accomplishments still lie ahead of us.
​
This journey began with just two guys sitting around in 200 square feet that I could never imagine us filling. We knew only two things: we wanted to be a company and we wanted to be disruptive. There had been no innovation in data storage media products for the consumer market in a long time as people were still using the 5¼-inch (133 mm) and 3½-inch (90 mm) floppy disks at the time. We did our research and grew passionate. We figured a little company could have a big impact in the industry.
​​
We developed a burnishing technology that could make a big difference in the quality of the floppy disks in 1991, and developed an anti-mold coating that could make the floppy disks last longer. In 1993, without a second thought like many other young entrepreneurs, we invested in an optical disc production line for CD-R which had a storage capacity of 74 minutes of audio or 650 Megabytes of data, which turned out to be the right thing to do as CD-R was soon replacing floppy disks globally. But our exploration for new data storage technology did not stop there so in 1994, we worked with a German flash memory controller designer to produce flash memory cards with the highest capacity and fastest read/write speeds at the time to meet the expectations of our demanding customers. This story can go on as we never stop innovating, simply, we know there is always a better way to make our products better.
​
People ask us how we stayed so motivated and innovative through the last 32 years in an industry that is so competitive. It’s because we believe in Diversity and Inclusion. Results are gained by exploiting opportunities and by embracing differences. Today, our organization employs minorities, people of different generations, ethnicities, races, religions, gender identities and sexual orientations. Our product portfolio includes not only high-density data storage media products, but also mobile and wireless communication products, and mobile accessory products for both Android and iPhone.
We have also outgrown a few spaces now. However, when I think about growth, I don’t think in terms of office space, employees or revenue. Instead, I think of our products’ market shares in each of our market segment, achieved through increased consumer demand or competitive advantages, driven by our company’s ability to increase perceived value, set optimum price points and improve product usefulness.
​​
In the next decade, the technologies of mobile and wireless communication will continue to evolve with convergence. It’s a pretty huge opportunity and MICRODIA is poised to take advantage of it. Right now, we’re on the verge of disrupting markets, changing our operations to enable faster global market penetration and improving the customer experience. We’re working hard to deliver our vision of building a connected world with easy share of information for the many people. We’re excited that customers are adopting our products, even in the remote corners of the world.
​​
Many thanks to the incredible team at MICRODIA and a community that’s been so supportive from the start. I am so proud to be part of this team and community.
​​
Let’s continue our “Possibilities Beyond Imagination”.
​
Aidan T. Mathewson
Chairman