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"Atasi" redirects here. For the prominent Syrian family, see Atassi family.
Atasi Technology, Inc.
FormerlyAtasi Corporation
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer storage
FoundedFebruary 2, 1981; 43 years ago (1981-02-02) (as Atasi Corporation)
Founder
  • Frank C. Gibeau
  • Paul L. Farmer
  • Stanley F. Brown
Defunct1994
FateAcquired by Western Digital
Headquarters235 Charcot Ave, San Jose, California
ProductsHard disk drives
Number of employees
65 (1987)

Atasi Corporation, later Atasi Technology, Inc., was an American hard disk drive manufacturer company based in California. It was incorporated in 1981 with its first headquarters in Moorpark, California. Atasi began selling products the following year in 1982. Although considered a pioneer within its industry and despite widespread adoption of its products in the high-end microcomputer market,[1] the company had financial problems throughout its lifetime, going through failed agreements, bankruptcy, and being acquired by Tandon then Western Digital before dissolving in the early 1990s.

History

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Founding and early history

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Atasi Technology (then called Atasi Corporation) was incorporated in 1981. It was principally founded by Frank C. Gibeau, while Paul L. Farmer and Stanley F. Brown were two of four other founding partners.[2] The name "Atasi" was a Native American word for a type of club used in warfare; Gibeau, a history enthusiast, chose the name for its Native American origins.[3][4]: D10 

Atasi 3000 series

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On August 16, 1982, Atasi introduced the 3000 series of 5 1/4-inch hard disk drives.[5] There were initially 3 models available, the 3020 (16 MB), 3033 (26 MB), and 3046 (37 MB). The 3020 had 2 disk platters, while the 3033 had 3 and the 3046 had 4.[6] They used the ST506 interface, which was considered one of the industry standards at the time. The drives had a 30 ms access time, an MTBF rating of 10,000 hours, and used MFM encoding. The 3020 would cost $1470 upon release and the 3033 cost $1800.[7] The main selling point of the Atasi drives was their low access time. In an advertisement in Personal Computing for the drives Gibeau says:

"In the push for high capacity 5 3-inch disk drives, manufacturers often overlook the requirement for low access time," said Gibeau. "The combination of high capacity and fast access, achieved in the Atasi products, is vital to the new generation of multi-user, multi-tasking computer systems. It brings such applications as local area networking and computer graphics more within reach of small-business computer and office-automation equipment users."[8]

Similar 5 1/4-inch drives of the time, such as the Seagate ST-506/ST-412, had access time of 85 ms average.[9] The lower access time was something previously only seen in bigger 8 and 14-inch hard disk drives, such as the IBM 3380, which had an average access time of 16 ms and was the first driver to get past the 1 GB barrier in 1980. The Atasi 3000 drives were expected to be in final production by early 1983.

Failed acquisition by Seagate

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In October 1983, Seagate Technology announced their intent to acquire Atasi through the offer of a stock swap worth $131.4 million (7.2 million shares of Seagate worth $18.25 each, at the time). Seagate primary reason for acquiring Atasi was to obtain the rights to the lucrative patents for Atasi's disk drive voice-coil technology.[10][11][12] Only a month later the deal was called off, with insiders surmising that neither companies stood to benefit fiscally from merging.[13][14]

Between May and July 1986, Atasi laid off over half of its 264 employees. The company cited a concurrent slowdown in the personal computer market as well as freezing of the company's credit line as the reasons for the layoffs.[15][16]

Gibeau left Atasi in early 1984, going on to join Epelocorp, a subsidiary created by Xebec Corporation, as the president. Alan J. Grant would then take over Atasi as temporary president until July.[17][18]

Atasi 3065/3075

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In December 1983, the AT-3065 and AT-3075 were announced as an expansion to the 3000 series of 5 1/4-inch hard disk drives. They had 65 and 75 MB of storage with an average access time of 24 ms, which was said to improve system throughput by up to 50%. The drives were set to be released in mid-1994 with the 3065 costing $1,800 and the 3075 $1,950.[19]

Donald R. Lundell era (1984–1985)

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Donald R. Lundell joined Atasi as Vice President of Engineering. Before joining Atasi, he spent over 18 years at IBM in various management positions. In July 1984, he was appointed President and CEO of the company, taking over from Alan J. Grant, who was the interim president since February of that year.[20][21][22]

Computer Memories deal

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In October 1985, Computer Memories, Inc., and Atasi discussed a pact in which Computer Memories would produce and sell hard disk drive products similar to Atasi's 85 and 170 MB hard disk drives. On October 29, Computer Memories backed out of the deal, for seemingly unknown reasons. It was said the deal would have attracted new customers to Computer Memories by allowing them to expand their product line, after IBM in August of that year did not renew its 1984 contract to purchase hard disk drives from them for their PC AT.[21]

Atasi at this time just recently filed for protection under Chapter 11 in August and was to receive $1 million with up to an additional $5 million in royalties from the deal. Donald said he was confused by the decision as Computer Memories was previously eager to sign the agreement.[21]

Stanley F. Brown era (1985–1990)

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Donald resigned from Atasi in November 1985, later becoming president of Aspen Peripherals Corporation in February 1986. Stanley resigned from his position as senior vice president of Computer Memories to take over Atasi. Stanley was one of the co-founders that helped start Atasi, and he wanted to try to bring the company out of bankruptcy. Another co-founder, Paul Farmer, joined him by taking over as vice president of quality assurance. Additionally, one of the company's first employees, Ravi Chari, was appointed vice president of engineering.[22]

The company had only around 90 employees remaining at the time, as most of its 500 employees were laid off. Many items were already labeled for liquidation. Stanley along with his 2 partners had a plan to try to revive the company. They planned to lower company costs by making deals with suppliers and outsourcing production to the far east. Next, they planned on finishing designs of newer, high-capacity hard disk drives, to be better competitive against their rivals in the market. They released their 85 MB hard disk drive earlier in the year already, and planned on a 170 MB one to follow up.[22]

Acquisition by Tandon and Western Digital

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In December 1986, Tandon Corporation, another large manufacturer of hard drives, announced that they were to acqurie Atasi in a $5 million deal after the latter had re-emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization earlier in June.[23][24] Atasi would then operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tandon.[23][25] The main motive for buying Atasi was to expand the capacity of their disk drives, as Tandon drives went up to 50 MB in capacity while Atasi offered up to 170 MB. Atasi at the time had 65 employees.[26][27] The deal was finalized in April 1987.[28]

The acquisition did not last long, as in late 1987 Tandon sold their hard disk drive unit to Western Digital in a deal for $49 million. With this move, Western Digital acquired Atasi by proxy.[29][30][31]

David Morris era (1990–1994)

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In 1990, Atasi re-emerged as a standalone company by the name of Atasi Technologies, Inc.[32]

In March 1990, Atasi acquired Priam Corporation's line of 5.25-inch hard drives and inventory that were Apple-compatible for $5.2 million during an asset auction after Priam filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[33]

List of CEOs

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Name Years Position, education
Frank C. Gibeau 1981–1984 Founder
Alan J. Grant 1984–1984 -
Donald R. Lundell 1984–1985 -
Stanley F. Brown 1985–1990 -
David Morris 1990–1994 -

Products

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Atasi was a producer of 5 1/4" and eventually 3.5" hard disk drives for computer systems of desktop use.

Model no. Released Capacity Size Encoding Cache Speed Interface Access time (ms) Sector size Notes
AT-676 765 MB 3600 RPM ESDI 16 512 bytes –
AT-3020 1982 17 MB 5 1/4" Full MFM 3600 RPM ST-506 30 256 bytes
AT-3033 1982 28 MB 5 1/4" Full MFM 3600 RPM ST-506 30 256 bytes
AT-3046 1982 39 MB 5 1/4" Full MFM 3600 RPM ST-506 30 256 bytes
AT-3051 43 MB 5 1/4" Full
AT-3053 44 MB 5 1/4" Full
AT-3065 1984 65 MB 5 1/4" Full ST-506 24
AT-3075 1984 67 MB 5 1/4" Full ST-506 24
AT-3085 67 MB 5 1/4" Full
AT-514M 117 MB 5 1/4" Full MFM 3600 RPM ST-412 20 512 bytes
AT-514R 117 MB 5 1/4" Full RLL 3600 RPM ST-412 20 512 bytes

References

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  1. ^ Alper, Alan (September 10, 1984). "Say tighter financing may begin squeezing recent start-ups". Electronic News. Vol. 30. Reed Business Information. pp. 10 et seq. – via Gale.
  2. ^ Staff writer (November 18, 1995). "Atasi Replacing CEO, 3 Directors". Electronic News. Vol. 31, no. 1576. Reed Business Information. p. 6 – via Gale.
  3. ^ John, Grietzer (June 7, 1982). "Start-Up Winchester Builder Aims at High End". Computer Business News. Vol. 5, no. 23. IDG Publications. p. 44 – via the Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Eekhouse, John (August 15, 1982). "Disk drive industry is filled with memories". The San Francisco Examiner: D1, D10 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Staff writer (August 16, 1982). "Hardware news". InfoWorld. Vol. 4, no. 32. IDG Publications. p. 62.
  6. ^ Atasi Series 3000 OEM Manual. Atasi Corporation. 1982. p. 3.
  7. ^ "5 1/4" Winchester Manufacturers". Digital Design. Vol. 12, no. 10. Digital Design Publishing. 1982. pp. 34–35.
  8. ^ Staff writer (1982). "Hardware of the Month: Speed Is Key to Atasi Drives". Personal Computing. Vol. 6, no. 9 (September 1982 ed.). Hayden Publishing. p. 216. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  9. ^ ST 506/412 OEM Manual (PDF). Seagate Technology. p. 3. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  10. ^ Myers, David (October 24, 1983). "Seagate/Atasi Deal: A Double-Edged Sword?". Computerworld. Vol. XVII, no. 43. IDG Publications. p. 97.
  11. ^ Eekhouse, John (October 14, 1983). "Seagate disk products line will expand with Atasi deal". The San Francisco Examiner: C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Raymond, Joan (October 14, 1983). "Seagate to buy Atasi Corp". Santa Cruz Sentinel: B8 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Staff writer (November 22, 1983). "Seagate and Atasi called off their merger discussions". Los Angeles Times. p. 2.
  14. ^ Raymond, Joan (December 28, 1983). "Things looking up for electronic firms". Santa Cruz Sentinel: B4 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Staff writer (May 17, 1985). "250 more Valley workers laid off". The Peninsula Times Tribune: E-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Hof, Rob (July 16, 1985). "Atasi work force slashed by half; credit line cut". The Peninsula Times Tribune. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Staff writer (June 15, 1984). "Xebec forms subsidiary to develop disk drives". The San Francisco Examiner. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Staff writer (July 16, 1984). "Executive Corner". Computerworld. XVIII (29). IDG Publications: 104 – via Google Books.
  19. ^ "Peripheral Products In Cartridge Tape Tech, Disk Drive Tech Debut". Computerworld. Vol. XVII, no. 50. IDG Publications. December 12, 1983. p. 87.
  20. ^ Staff writer (September 7, 1982). "Business and People". Los Angeles Times. Times-Mirror Company: IV.3 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ a b c "Chatsworth Company Backs Out: Computer Memories-Atasi Deal Unravels". Los Angeles Times. October 29, 1985. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024.
  22. ^ a b c Greer, Jonathan (June 3, 1986). "Atasi Boss: We're not ready to die". Boca Raton News. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b Staff writer (December 10, 1986). "Atasi to be bought by Tandon". The Lompoc Record. p. B4 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Staff writers (June 3, 1986). "Other news to note". The San Francisco Examiner. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Staff writer (December 9, 1986). "Atasi Corp. to be sold to Tandon Computer". The Peninsula Times Tribune. p. B6 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Tandon buys Winchester drive maker". Computerworld. Vol. XXI, no. 16. IDG Publications. April 20, 1987. p. 105. ISSN 0010-4841.
  27. ^ "Tandon Signs Definitive Agreement for Atasi". Computergram International. New Statesman Media Group. April 13, 1987. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  28. ^ Staff writer (April 13, 1987). "Briefly". Los Angeles Times. Times-Mirror Company. p. IV.2 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "SEC FILING, Western Digital". Western Digital Investor. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  30. ^ Scheier, Robert (1987). "Tandon dropping disk-drive division, focusing on PC subsystem sales". PC Week. Vol. 4, no. 50. Ziff-Davis. p. 143 – via Gale.
  31. ^ Riser, Joseph (March 14, 1988). "Tandon wraps $49M sale of Winchester unit to WD". Electronic News. Vol. 34, no. 1697. Reed Business Information – via Gale.
  32. ^ "Atasi Technology, Inc". OpenCorporates. n.d. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  33. ^ "Sequel, Atasi Buy Major Priam Assets". Electronic News. Vol. 36, no. 1802. Reed Business Information. March 26, 1990. p. 7.
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