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Updated Dec. 9, 2008

Corporate History

1935
The first ferrite cores.

1955
Ulcon Disc capacitor introduced.

1958
Parametron Calculator Memory Cores.

1966
Cassette tapes introduced.

1972
Winchester Heads developed.

1978
Video tape using new magnetic material, Avilyn, introduced.

1935	Tokyo Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K. established in Tamura-cho, Shiba-ku, Tokyo City for commercial production of ferrite cores.

1937	Kamata Plant constructed, mass production of ferrite cores begins.

1940	Hirasawa Plant constructed in Hirasawa-cho, Akita prefecture.

1951	Production of ceramic capacitors begins at the Hirasawa Plant.

1953	"Synchro Tape" - magnetic recording tape introduced.

1955	Ulcon Disc capacitor introduced.

1958	TDK's Paramister(parametron arithmetic circuit) wins the Grand Prix at the Brussels World Exposition.

1959	TDK opens its first overseas office in Los Angeles. TDK shares listed on the Tokyo over-the-counter market.

1960	Yawata Plant constructed in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture.

1961	TDK shares listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

1965	TDK establishes a local subsidiary in New York.

1966	"Synchro Cassette Tapes" introduced.

1968	Joint venture company established in Taiwan.

1969	Chikumagawa Plant constructed in Saku City, Nagano Prefecture.

1970	Chokai Plant constructed in Nikaho-machi, Akita Prefecture. Shizuoka Plant constructed in Sagara-cho, Shizuoka Prefecture.

1972	Winchester Heads developed. Local subsidiary established in Dusseldorf, Germany.

1978	Headquarters moved to 1-13-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. VHS format "Super Avilyn Video Cassettes" introduced. Narita Plant constructed in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture.

1980	Magnetic heads using amorphous materials introduced.

1982	Mikumagawa Plant constructed in Hita City, Oita Prefecture TDK shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1983	Company name changed to TDK Corporation. TDK serves as an official sponsor of the First IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Helsinki).

1985	TDK has a pavilion at the International Exposition, Tsukuba, Japan.

1989	Local subsidiaries established in Malaysia and Luxembourg.

1990
TDK Technical Center

1990	Technical Center completed in Ichikawa City.

1991	Local subsidiary established in Thailand.

1992	Plant constructed in Dalian, China. Recordable CD-R compact discs with an organic colorant film introduced.

1994
TDK Xiamen Co., Ltd (China)

1994	High-density recording MR heads introduced. Local subsidiary established in Xiamen, China.

1995	Plant constructed in Hungary.

1997	Mikumagawa Plant acquires ISO 14001 certification. Plant constructed in the Philippines for magnetic head production.

1998	TDK Malaysia becomes TDK's first overseas plant to acquire ISO 14001 certification.

1999	TDK Electronics Ireland Ltd. established as a mobile communications high-frequency component and module research and development base.

2000	Headway Technologies Inc., an American magnetic head maker, acquired.

2001	Multilayer chip capacitor manufacturing and sales company established in Suzhou, China. TDK R&D Corporation established as a research and development base in the United States.

2002	System of outside directors and corporate officers introduced. The Mikumagawa Plant becomes the TDK Gorup's first operations base in Japan to achieve zero emissions.

2003	Innoveta Technologies, an American developer of power supplies for use in communications devices, acquired.

2005
DENSEI-LAMBDA Nagaoka Plant

2005
TDK History Museum

2004	TDK becomes the first recording media maker to join the Blu-ray Disc Founders.

2005	TDK acquires Amperex Technology Limited, a manufacturing and sales company of Polymer Lithium Battery in Hong Kong. TDK acquires Lambda Power Group, power-supply business of Invensys plc. TDK opens the TDK History Museum in Akita Prefecture.

2006	World's first bare Blu-ray Disc released.

2007	TDK-brand recording media sales business transferred to US data storage products manufacturer and supplier Imation Corp.

2008	Business merger by takeover bid with German electronic device manufacturer EPCOS.