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Happy 15th Birthday Crucial.com

Tags: Crucial Technology (NASDAQ:MU)

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PRESS RELEASE

A lot can happen in 15 years! Since 1996 we've seen Concorde take its last flight, experienced the longest total solar eclipse, witnessed Lance Armstrong win 7 consecutive Tour de France bicycle races, and experienced the launch of Crucial.com, one of the leading global providers of computer memory and storage upgrades.

CRUCIAL.COM IS LAUNCHED

September 1996 saw the birth of Crucial.com from within a single room of parent company, Micron Technology, in Boise Idaho, USA. At that time it was hard to imagine the expansion of the Crucial brand and Crucial.com to the thriving business it is today. Crucial.com has since expanded to its US headquarters in Meridian, Idaho, and international headquarters in East Kilbride, Scotland (est. 1999).

The consumer technology changes we've seen over the past 15 years have been HUGE. Back in 1996 amongst the first Crucial memory modules shipped from the Boise office was a 16MB-yes, that's megabyte-stick (the largest from Crucial at the time) costing the customer US$141.  Based on this price, an equivalent 8GB DDR3 kit upgrade today would cost a whopping $72,192 (that's around £46,880)! Compare that to the actual cost today direct from Crucial.com: around US$60 (or £40)!

Over the years the Crucial product line has grown from 16MB EDO modules, into a vast array of DRAM offerings, including SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 and DDR3, to the latest and greatest award winning Solid State Drives (SSDs). Take a look here to see just how many awards we've clocked up recently! Independent reviews like these are just one way we have helped to build a reputation of a dependable, affordable and reliable storage manufacturer and memory brand.

CUSTOMERS SHIFT TO E-COMMERCE

Additionally, the process customers followed to purchase from us back then has also dramatically changed - typical orders were placed over the phone, and all advertising was done in print newspaper classifieds. Mike Sanor, one of the original lab techs from the Crucial team, tells us in this short video how the original 7-person team celebrated their first 7-order day. Within two years, more customers placed online orders than over the phone - a major business shift for Crucial.com.

Crucial's efficient e-commerce model has been instrumental in its fifteen years of success. Easy-to-use tools on Crucial.com - like the Crucial Memory Advisor and Crucial System Scanner - make it simple to find a 100%-guaranteed compatible memory upgrade. Today, Crucial.com offers over 250,000 memory upgrades for more than 50,000 systems, including desktops, notebooks, servers, printers, routers, and other electronic devices. In addition, Crucial's site offers helpful installation videos on how to easily upgrade a PC with memory and performance enhancing solid state storage.

INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION

Expansion of Crucial.com in the UK and France has allowed European customers to buy direct through their own regional sites (www.crucial.com/uk, www.crucial.fr).

To find more fascinating facts from Crucial, the IT Industry and world in general, take a look here at the Crucial 15 year time line since 1996.

Thank you for your support of Crucial.com over the years.