Kingston Technology Company, the world's largest independent supplier of memory modules and storage solutions for personal computers, said that on Wednesday it will turn twenty five years old. Throughout its history, Kingston has not only managed to retain its independence, but also has succeeded in becoming one of the most respectable brands in the industry.

“It is a great and humbling feeling to be a part of this company. The best aspects of the last 25 years here have been the people who work here, our partners and all of the great relationships we have been a part of. I am truly amazed by the thought of where we started and where we are today, and look forward to the next 25 years,” said John Tu, CEO and co-founder of Kingston.

Kingston was founded on October 17, 1987 by chief executive officer and co-founder John Tu, and chief operating officer and co-founder David Sun. In many ways, Kingston Technology grew out of a severe shortage of surface-mount memory chips in the high-tech marketplace in the 1980s. At the time John Tu and David Sun found a company, which manufactured SIMM memory modules. Later on, the company started to rigorously test its products and quickly become a respected supplier of SIMMs. In the early nineties Kingston supplied microprocessor upgrades and storage products in addition to memory modules. In 2004, Kingston officially became the world's No. 1 independent maker of memory modules. Sales of the company in 2010 were as high as $6.5 billion.

^{John Tu and David Sun, the co-founders of Kingston}

It is interesting to note that Softbank, a Japanese investment company, once acquired 80% of Kingston for $1.5 billion only to sell it back to owners for $450 million several years later.

The entrepreneurial spirit of John Tu and David Sun and the success of the company have been recognized globally through the years. Kingston’s core tenets of respect, loyalty, flexibility and integrity have created an exemplary corporate culture; one that guides its relationships with customers, partners and vendors, and to which Kingston owes its success.

"The underlying technology behind a memory module remains very simple. There will always be a need for memory. Every business faces threats as new technologies emerge. The cloud, for example, may affect our storage business. But at the same time, we have exciting products such as server memory and server SSDs that are major components of the cloud infrastructure. Flexibility and being able to adapt are the keys to continued success. This is what David and I believed when we started this little company 25 years ago and that is what we still follow today," said Mr. Tu.

Kingston is marking its 25th anniversary in the United States, Canada and EMEA by holding a contest with a grand prize of $2500 and the opportunity to design a USB flash drive. Other prizes include $250, solid-state drives and Kingston’s 25th anniversary USB drive. The details about the contest can be found at the company's Facebook page.

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