Sandisk was founded on 1 June 1988 by Eli Harari, Sanjay Mehrotra and Jack Yuan. Originally incorporated as SunDisk Corporation, the company adopted the Sandisk name in 1995. Its founding mission was to commercialise flash memory technology as a reliable alternative to magnetic storage.1

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Sandisk became a leading innovator in flash memory, helping to establish standards for removable storage used in digital cameras, smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices.3

Acquisition and independence

In 2016, Western Digital acquired Sandisk for approximately US$19 billion, integrating its flash memory business with Western Digital’s broader storage portfolio.1

In 2025, the flash memory business was separated into an independent public company under the Sandisk name. This restructuring allowed the firm to focus exclusively on flash memory technologies, SSDs and storage solutions designed for the artificial intelligence era.2

Sandisk manufactures a wide range of storage products across several categories:2

• Memory Cards: SD cards, microSD cards and CompactFlash cards (legacy).
• USB Flash Drives: Ultra series, Ultra Dual Drive, Ultra Luxe and Extreme series.
• Portable SSDs: Sandisk Portable SSD, Extreme Portable SSD and Creator series SSDs.
• Internal SSDs: SATA SSDs and NVMe PCIe SSDs.
• Embedded Flash Storage: eMMC, UFS and iNAND embedded storage.
• Enterprise Storage: Data-centre SSDs and AI and cloud infrastructure flash solutions.

Sandisk focuses on the development of NAND flash memory, a type of non-volatile storage that retains data even when power is removed. The company collaborates with Kioxia on the development and production of advanced 3D NAND flash memory.2

Its technologies are widely deployed in smartphones, tablets, laptops, gaming consoles, digital cameras, drones, automotive systems, industrial devices, cloud data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Major innovations

Sandisk has achieved numerous milestones in flash storage, including:3

• First flash-based SSDs
• Co-invention of the microSD memory card format
• Early multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash technology
• 512 GB SD card
• 1 TB microSD card
• 4 TB UHS-I SD card
• 8 TB SDUC UHS-I card
• Advanced 3D BiCS NAND flash technologies

These innovations have contributed to increased storage capacity alongside improvements in performance and energy efficiency.

Sandisk is widely recognised for reliable flash storage, high-speed memory cards, durable portable SSDs and professional-grade photography and videography storage, as well as consumer storage solutions.2

Its products are commonly used by photographers, videographers, gamers, content creators, IT professionals and everyday consumers.

As of 2026, Sandisk is led by CEO David Goeckeler. The company employs more than 10,000 people worldwide and operates across North America, Asia, Europe and other international markets.2

According to the company, Sandisk aims to help people and businesses “move, create, discover, share, and unlock their potential” through innovative flash memory and storage technologies. Its strategy emphasises innovation, sustainability, responsible leadership, global collaboration and high-performance data storage.2

Sandisk is considered one of the world’s leading flash memory brands and competes with major storage manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Kingston Technology, Crucial, Lexar and Seagate Technology. The company continues to expand its storage portfolio to support AI workloads, gaming, creative professionals, enterprise computing and cloud infrastructure.4

1. Sandisk
2. Innovating Flash Memory, SSDs & Storage Technology | Sandisk
3. SANDISK ”START” ”REPEAT”
4. What’s the deal with Sandisk, the S&P 500-leading stock up more than 550% this year?