TDK

TDK Corporation (Japanese: TDK株式会社, Hepburn: TDK Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese multinational electronics corporation that manufactures electronic components and recording and data-storage media. Its motto is "Contribute to culture and industry through creativity".

"TDK" is an initialism of the original Japanese name of the company: Tokyo Denki Kagaku Kōgyō K.K. (Tokyo Electric Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.). The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX indices.

TDK was founded by Kenzo Saito in Tokyo, Japan, on 7 December 1935 to manufacture the iron-based magnetic material ferrite, which had been recently invented by Yogoro Kato and Takeshi Takei. In 1952 and 1957, they began to produce magnetic tape, with compact cassette tapes following in 1966. TDK manufactured an extensive portfolio of magnetic and optical media, including several formats of videotape and blank CD-R and recordable DVD discs until the recording media business was sold to Imation in 2007.

TDK produced five million ferrite cores through 1945 that were primarily used to reduce the volume and weight of radio receivers used by the Imperial Japanese military.

Operations in the United States began in 1965 with a New York City office, and European operations began in 1970 with an office in Frankfurt, West Germany.

In 1980, TDK developed a multilayering technology to create chip capacitors and inductors used in personal computers, laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices.

In 1986, TDK acquired SAE Magnetics and introduced high-density recording heads.

In the 1990s, TDK's Mass Storage Division included brushless DC spindle motors, magnetoresistance (MR) heads and thin-film heads.