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ADI Corporation

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ADI Corporation
Company typePublic
IndustryManufacturing
FoundedMarch 1979; 45 years ago (1979-03) in Taiwan
FounderLiao Jian-cheng
Products
  • Computer hardware
  • Footwear
Divisions
  • ADI Systems
  • Quimax Systems

ADI Corporation (Advanced Data International) is a defunct Taiwanese manufacturing company active from 1979 to the 2000s. Its primary export was computer hardware—chiefly computer monitors—through its American subsidiary ADI Systems. For a time, it was the fifth largest monitor manufacturer in the world,[1] with major customers including Apple, Compaq, and Optiquest.

History

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ADI Corporation (an initialism for Advanced Data International) was founded in Taiwan in March 1979 by Liao Jian-cheng.[2][3] The company was originally a diversified concern, manufacturing a number of disparate products, including footwear for Nike, Inc.[2][4] By the time the company entered the market for computer hardware in the 1980s, ADI still had a contract with Nike to produce shoes.[2] Its first computer-related exports were data terminals and computer monitors.[5]

In 1986, Liao Jian-cheng merged ADI with his other corporation Cheng Chang Enterprises Co., Ltd.[2] In 1987, the company went public on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.[3] Around the same time, the company established Quimax Systems, an American subsidiary dedicated to importing the company's monitors and terminals manufactured in Taiwan. A major customer of Quimax in the 1980s was Esprit Systems, a seller of terminals that was spun off from Hazeltine Corporation within the decade.[6] In 1989, ADI became a major shareholder in Espirit, and in 1990 the year they led a group of other Taiwanese companies in a takeover of Espirit that transformed the public American company into a privately owned venture.[7][8]

By the turn of the 1990s, ADI was a leading manufacturer of terminals and displays in Taiwan.[5] ADI began offering monitors under their own name starting in 1993, under the subbrand MicroScan.[9] Major customers of ADI soon included Apple Computer, Compaq, and Optiquest.[10]: 72 [11]: 118  Of these customers, Compaq was by far the largest, ADI producing nearly all of their monitors in the 1990s.[12] In November 1994, Compaq formed a joint venture with ADI to raise factories in Mexico, Brazil, and Europe to assemble and store ADI's monitors, helping reduce the travel time from Taiwan to ADI's major exports.[13] Unit shipments increased from 1.1 million in 1993 to 1.6 million in 1994.[14] Also in 1994, ADI piloted the production of an i486SX subnotebook, although it never came to fruition.[15]

In 1998, ADI obtained the rights from Sony to sell monitors with Trinitron picture tubes, starting with the MicroScan 5GT.[16] Around the turn of the millennium, the company began selling flat-panel monitors, chiefly LCDs.[10]

ADI went defunct around the same time they let their American website domain name expire in December 2006.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Horne, Jackie (September 1, 1995). "Fears of Taiwanese equity flood ease". Euroweek (418). Euromoney Publications: 8 – via ProQuest.
  2. ^ a b c d Asian Company Handbook (1990 ed.). Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha. 1990. p. 563 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b The Dow Jones Guide to the Global Stock Market: Asia/Pacific. Vol. 2. Dow Jones & Company. 1999. ISBN 1-881944-13-1 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Fang, Cindy; Frances Gao; David Liu; Christopher S. Tang; Weiwei Wang; Tony Wiu (2007). "Supply Chain Configurations of Foreign Cosmetics Companies". Supply Chain Analysis. Springer. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-387-75240-2 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ a b Lim, Linda (1991). Foreign Direct Investment and Industrialisation in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. p. 142. ISBN 9789264134980 – via the Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Staff writer (May 12, 1989). "Other Financing". Computergram International (1175). GlobalData – via Gale.
  7. ^ Staff writer (June 1, 1989). "Esprit Systems to move down from American Exchange to NASDAQ". Computergram International (1189). GlobalData – via Gale.
  8. ^ Staff writer (April 4, 1990). "Taiwanese, US investors offer 17 cents a share to take Esprit Systems private". Computergram International (1399). GlobalData – via Gale.
  9. ^ Corcoran, Cate (November 1, 1993). "Energy-saving ADI monitors adaptable to chip sets, signals". InfoWorld. 15 (44). IDG Publications: 43 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ a b Dritsas, David; Grant Clauser; Janet Pinkerton (January 2000). "Comdex Wrap Up: New for 2000". Dealerscope. 42 (1). North American Publishing Company: 72–74 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ Stone, M. David (March 16, 1993). "ADI Systems Inc.: ADI MicroScan 3E, ADI MicroScan 3E+, ADI MicroScan 4A; Compaq Computer Corp.: Compaq 1024 Color Monitor; Optiquest Inc.: Optiquest 1500D, Optiquest 2000D". PC Magazine. 12 (5). Ziff-Davis: 118, 126 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ Staff writer (September 22, 1995). "Siliconware flies, ADI struggles as Taiwan list starts". Euroweek (421). Euromoney Publications: 9 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ Kanellos, Michael (November 28, 1994). "ADI develops offshore sites with Compaq's aid". Computer Reseller News (607). CMP Publications: 26 – via ProQuest.
  14. ^ Brown, Jeanette; Bill Terdoslavich (April 24, 1995). "Monitors: A Race To Put Bigger, Greener, Sharper-Looking Images On Screens". Computer Reseller News. CMP Publications: 94 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ Zimmerman, Micahel R. (June 6, 1994). "Subnotebooks, Pentium-based portables previewed in Taiwan". PC Week. 11 (22). Ziff-Davis: 11 – via Gale.
  16. ^ Robinson, Daniel (June 1998). "ADI MicroScan 5GT". PC Direct. ZDNet: 333 – via Gale.
  17. ^ "adiusa.com". Network Solutions. December 8, 2006. Archived from the original on December 16, 2006.
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