Computer Memories, Inc.
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer storage, Hard disk drives |
| Founded | August 6, 1979 in Chatsworth, California, United States |
| Founder | Raymond Brooke, Abraham Brand, James Willets, James Quackenbush |
| Defunct | June 6, 2005 |
| Headquarters | Chatsworth , United States |
| Products | Hard disk drives |
| Parent | Pure World, Inc. (after renaming) |
Computer Memories, Inc. (CMI) was a manufacturer based in Chatsworth, California that produced hard disk drives during the early 1980s, specializing in affordable drives utilizing stepper motor technology.
History
Established in 1979 by Raymond Brooke, Abraham Brand, James Willets, and James Quackenbush—all previously employed at Pertec—CMI began with initial capital from Brooke, Brand, and investors such as Intel Corporation. The company was officially incorporated on August 6, 1979, initially marketing three models of 5¼" disk drives with unformatted storage capacities of 5, 10, or 15 megabytes. CMI went public on August 23, 1983, offering approximately two million shares.
In August 1984, CMI won a significant contract to be the exclusive supplier of 20-megabyte hard drives for the IBM PC/AT base unit. However, the CM6000 drives manufactured in Singapore experienced high failure rates—estimated between 25% and 30% by dealers—attributable to quality control problems during IBM’s rapid order increase from 90,000 units in 1984 to 240,000 in 1985, as well as inherent design weaknesses in the drive subsystem. Facing challenges in meeting IBM’s demanding production schedule, CMI secured an emergency loan of $6 million, reportedly provided by IBM.
At the same time, Quantum Corporation initiated legal action against CMI for patent infringement concerning servo technology used in the CM6600 series. CMI’s innovative composite motor incorporated a metal-band pulley system that caused feedback issues which its firmware failed to correct.
By late 1985, IBM declared it would discontinue using CMI drives once their contract expired. Despite CMI introducing a "patent-free" 7600 series in 1986, the company was unable to recover and halted production of hard disks—which represented 95% of its revenue—on July 2, 1986. Efforts to sell the company to Hemdale Film Corporation and DIC Animation City in 1987 did not succeed.
In 1988, Paul and Natalie Koether purchased the publicly traded shell company as an investment vehicle; it was renamed American Holdings, Inc. in 1992 and later Pure World, Inc. in 1995 following its largest subsidiary's focus on botanical products such as kava. On June 6, 2005, Pure World was acquired by French competitor Naturex, S.A.
References
External links
- Articles with short description
- American companies established in 1979
- American companies disestablished in 2005
- Computer companies established in 1979
- Computer companies disestablished in 2005
- Computer storage companies
- Defunct computer hardware companies
- Defunct computer companies of the United States
- Defunct manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles