Lexar
More info
- Released
- 1996–
- Type
- Flash memory maker
- Owner
- Longsys (formerly Micron)
The memory-card maker that invented the "x" speed rating on CompactFlash and changed owners about as often as a USB stick changes pockets.
Lexar was spun out of SanDisk rival Cirrus Logic in 1996 and made flash memory in the form of memory cards, USB sticks and card readers. The company introduced the "x" rating on CompactFlash — 133x, 300x and so on — a way to sell speed much as CD burners once did.
The fights played out in court as much as on the shelf: in 2005 Lexar won a major patent judgment against Toshiba. Micron bought the company in 2006 and ran it as a sister brand to Crucial, retired the name in 2017, and sold it that same year to China's Longsys, which promptly brought the brand back to life.