| Verbatim | |
| Brands: | Verbatim Freecom Mitsubishi |
| Founder: | Reid Anderson (Verbatim, 1969) |
| Foundation: | as Information Terminals Corporation (North Carolina, United States) |
| Former Name: | 1978 as Verbatim Corporation 1982 as Kasei Verbatim (former joint venture) February 23, 1994, as Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (Tokyo, Japan) |
| Parent: | CMC Magnetics (2020-present) Mitsubishi Chemical (1990-2020) Eastman Kodak (1985-1990) |
| Key People: | Clive Alberts (CEO and President) |
| Industry: | Electronics Technology |
| Num Employees: | 510 (consolidated) |
Verbatim is a brand for storage media and flash memory products currently owned by CMC Magnetics Corporation (CMC), a Taiwanese company that is known for optical disc manufacturing. Formerly a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical, the global business and assets of Verbatim were sold to CMC Magnetics in 2019 at an estimated price of $32 million USD.[1] [2]
Originally an American company and known for its floppy disks in the 1970s and 1980s, Verbatim is now known for its recordable optical media.
The original Verbatim first started in Mountain View, California, in 1969, under the name Information Terminals Corporation, founded by Reid Anderson. It grew quickly and became a leading manufacturer of floppy disks by the end of the 1970s, and it was soon renamed Verbatim. In 1982, it formed a floppy disk joint venture with Japanese company Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation (forerunner of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation), with the joint venture called Kasei Verbatim.
Verbatim mostly struggled in the decade and was purchased by Eastman Kodak in 1985, while its floppy partnership with Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation was still intact. It was eventually purchased fully by Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation in March 1990, after eight years in a joint venture. Many new products were launched under the new Japanese ownership, and the brand saw immense growth in the decade.[3] Mitsubishi Kagaku Media was founded in October 1994 as a subsidiary through the merger of Mitsubishi Kasei and Mitsubishi Petrochemical, resulting in Mitsubishi Chemical. The new company absorbed the former American company and created a new Japanese entity, whilst the old Verbatim brand lived on.
In addition, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media sold products under the Freecom brand. Freecom was founded in Berlin, Germany, in 1989 and had been based in the Netherlands when it was purchased by Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings in September 2009.
The company was selling products under the Mitsubishi brand in Japan from 1994 to 2010, when Verbatim fully replaced it.
Verbatim's early floppies were manufactured at a factory in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, starting 1979 (MC Infonics, sold to CMC Magnetics in the 2000s).
(during the era of Mitsubishi ownership) Verbatim sold products partly produced in Verbatim and Mitsubishi's own plants in Singapore and Japan, and partly under license by Taiwanese and Indian manufacturers.
Verbatim also resold relabeled products from Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, Malaysian and Indian factories (Pearl White DVD series in Europe, some CD-R not labeled Super Azo), including but not limited to products by Taiyo Yuden, Ritek Corporation, CMC Magnetics, Prodisc, Moser Baer, Daxon/BenQ.