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			{{short description\|Former American computer hardware manufacturer}}
	{{Infobox company\|
			{{Infobox company
	company_name = OCZ Technology Inc. \|
			\| name = OCZ Storage Solutions
	company_logo = ] \|
			\| former_name = OCZ Technology (2002-2014)
	company_type = ]\|
			\| logo = ]
	traded_as = {{Nasdaq\|OCZ}} \|
			\| type = ] of ]
	company_slogan = \|
			\| traded_as = {{Ubl\|{{OTC Pink was\|OCZTQ}}\|{{NASDAQ was\|OCZ}}}}
	ticker_symbol = OCZ\|
			\| fate = Dissolved and absorbed into Toshiba, then spun off into Kioxia
	foundation = August 2002 \|
			\| foundation = {{start date and age\|2002\|8}}
	founders = Art Armagast and Ryan Petersen \|
			\| defunct = {{end date and age\|2016\|04\|01}}
	location_city = ] \|
			\| founders = {{ubl\|Ryan Petersen\|Bhulinder Sethi}}
	location_country = United States \|
			\| location_city = ]
	key_people = Ralph Schmitt (CEO) \|
			\| location_country = United States
	num_employees = 708 (Feb 29, 2012) \|
			\| key_people = Ralph Schmitt (CEO)
	industry = ] \|
			\| num_employees = 550 (April 24, 2013)
	products = ], ], ] \|
			\| industry = ]
	revenue = \|
			\| products = ]
	homepage = \|

			]
			\| parent = ]
			\| revenue =
			\| subsid = ]
			\| successors = {{Unbulleted list\|]\|]}}
			\| predecessors = ]
			\| homepage = {{URL\|ocz.com}}
	}}		}}
	'''OCZ Technology''' is a manufacturer of computer hardware based in ], USA. Since entering the memory market in 2002, OCZ has targeted its products primarily at the computer hardware enthusiast market, first producing performance DDR RAM, Video Cards, USB drives, and various cooling products. OCZ currently produces Solid State Drives (SSDs) and power supplies.

			'''OCZ''' was a brand of ] that was used for some of its ]s (SSDs) before they were rebranded with Toshiba. '''OCZ Storage Solutions''' was a manufacturer of SSDs based in ], USA and was the new company formed after the sale of ''OCZ Technology Group''{{'}}s SSD assets to ]. Since entering the memory market as ''OCZ Technology'' in 2002, the company has targeted its products primarily at the computer hardware enthusiast market, producing performance ], ]s, ], ]s, and various cooling products.
	OCZ recently began to focus on commercial and enterprise data storage with its SSD business expansion. The company produces a range of SSD interfaces, including SATA III, ], ]<ref>http://www.oczenterprise.com/ssd-products/talos-2-r-sas-2.5-mlc.html</ref> and ], for both client and enterprise applications. The company recently announced the RevoDrive, which is a bootable PCI-E drive for the enthusiast market. It also recently announced a new SSD interface called HSDL, which is a new ultra-fast PCIe/SAS hybrid interface, along with corresponding products to implement it. As of 2012, OCZ's most recent SSDs offer up to a 1 TB capacity.<ref>http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-octane-sata-iii-2-5-ssd.html</ref>

			OCZ Storage Solutions was dissolved on April 1, 2016 and absorbed into Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc,<ref name="CompanyWebsite">{{Cite web \| url = http://ocz.com/ \|title=OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company \| access-date= April 26, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Valich">{{Cite news \| url = http://vrworld.com/2016/04/06/toshiba-rebrands-ocz/ \| first = Theo \|last = Valich \|title = Toshiba Rebrands OCZ Storage Solutions \|date = April 6, 2016 \|access-date = April 26, 2016 \|newspaper = VR-World}}</ref> which later then became ].
	On May 25, 2007, OCZ acquired PC Power & Cooling, whose products include power supplies.<ref></ref> PC Power & Cooling is in Carlsbad, California. It operates as a separate satellite office for OCZ and maintains its own product lines.

			==History==
	On January 11, 2011, OCZ announced that they will be discontinuing their RAM production, citing poor market performance and the weakening global DRAM market. OCZ discontinued their remaining lines of DRAM models at the end of their 2010 fiscal year on February 28, 2011.<ref>Hilbert Hagedoorn, , January 12, 2011</ref>
			]
			OCZ was originally called "The Overclockerz Store" when it was founded by Ryan Petersen in 2000 selling ] ] processors. San Jose, California-based OCZ Technology Group, Inc. was founded in 2002 by Ryan Petersen and Bhulinder Sethi.

			OCZ maintained satellite offices in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Israel along with manufacturing and ] facilities in Taiwan. In June 2006, OCZ went public on the ] ] (LSE AIM), with the ticker symbol "OCZ".
	==Corporate Information==
			On May 25, 2007, OCZ acquired ], whose products include power supplies.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2007/222\|title=OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company}}</ref> PC Power & Cooling is in ]. It operated as a separate satellite office for OCZ and maintained its own product lines, although OCZ later launched OCZ-branded power supply models as well.
	OCZ maintains satellite offices in The Netherlands, Canada, and Brazil, and it has manufacturing and logistics facilities in Taiwan. In June 2006, OCZ went public on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (LSE AIM), with the ticker symbol "OCZ". However, in early March 2009, OCZ announced their intent to delist from the LSE, to pursue a listing on an American stock exchange. On April 24, 2010, OCZ announced a listing on NASDAQ, with the ticker symbol "OCZ".
			In early March 2009, OCZ announced their intent to ] from the LSE to pursue a listing on an American stock exchange. On April 24, 2010, OCZ announced a listing on ] with the ticker symbol "OCZ".

			In September 2010 OCZ announced the RevoDrive, which is a bootable PCI-E drive for the enthusiast market. It also recently announced an SSD interface called High Speed Data Link (HSDL), which is a PCIe/SAS hybrid interface, along with corresponding products to implement it.<ref>{{Cite news \|title= OCZ's Fastest SSD, the IBIS and HDSL Interface Reviewed \|date= September 29, 2010 \|author= Anand Lal Shimpi \|work= Anand Tech blog \|url= http://www.anandtech.com/show/3949/ \|access-date= December 9, 2013 }}</ref>
	==Acquisitions==
			As of 2012, OCZ's SSDs offered up to a 1 TB capacity.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-octane-sata-iii-2-5-ssd.html\|title=OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company}}</ref>
	In November 2010, OCZ acquired intellectual property from Solid Data Inc., for Fibre Channel, SAS, and controller assets for solid state drives. The cost was approximately $950,000, paid with restricted common stock and cash.<ref>Press release: , Nov. 15, 2010</ref>

			In November 2010, OCZ acquired ] from Solid Data Inc., for ], SAS, and controller assets for solid state drives. The cost was approximately $950,000, paid with restricted common stock and cash.<ref>Press release: {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174658/http://ir.stockpr.com/ocztechnology/recent-news/detail/833/ocz-technology-acquires-intellectual-property-from-solid-data-inc-for-fibre-channel-sas-and-solid-state-drive-controller-assets \|date=2016-03-03 }}, Nov. 15, 2010</ref>
	In March 2011, OCZ acquired Indilinx Co., Ltd, a privately held fabless provider of flash controller silicon and software for SSDs. OCZ gained intellectual property, including approximately 20 patents and patent applications related to the business, for approximately $32 million of OCZ common stock. Indilinx will continue to produce and supply its line of controller products to SSD manufacturers and OEMs on a global basis. The Indilinx controller business and its 45 employees will remain intact under the leadership of Bumsoo Kim, the founder and President of Indilinx, and Hyunmo Chung, the Chief Technology Officer of Indilinx.<ref>http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2011/421</ref>

			OCZ discontinued all RAM production, citing poor market performance and the weakening global ] market, by the end of their 2010 ] on February 28, 2011.<ref>Hilbert Hagedoorn, , January 12, 2011</ref>

			In March 2011, OCZ acquired ] Company, Limited, a privately-held ] provider of ] ] and software for SSDs, for approximately $32 million of OCZ common stock.<ref>{{Cite news \|title= Addition of High Performance Controller Technology and Firmware is Expected to Accelerate Storage Technology Innovation and Expand Product Portfolio \|date= March 14, 2011 \|work= Press release \|url= http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2011/421 \|url-status=dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110316175418/http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2011/421 \|archive-date= March 16, 2011 \|access-date= September 18, 2013 }}</ref>
	On October 5, 2011, OCZ announced an intent to take over PLX Technology's Abingdon R&D department (formerly Oxford Semiconductor), which specializes in storage SoC development.<ref>Press release: , October 5, 2011</ref>

	On ~~January~~ 9, ~~2012~~ OCZ announced ~~its~~ ~~acquisition~~ of ~~SANRAD~~ ~~Inc.,~~ a ~~privately~~ ~~held~~ ~~provider~~ of ~~flash~~ ~~caching~~ ~~and~~ ~~virtualization~~ ~~software~~ ~~and~~ ~~hardware. The SANRAD team remains as the~~ ~~new OCZ Israel office~~.<ref>Press release: </ref>		On October 5, 2011, OCZ announced an intent to acquire ]'s Abingdon R&D department (formerly Oxford Semiconductor), which specializes in storage SoC development.<ref>Press release: , October 5, 2011</ref>

			In 2012 OCZ acquired Sanrad Inc., a privately-held provider of ] ] and ] software and hardware from the ]; Sanrad became the OCZ Israel office.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2012/477\|title=OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company}}</ref>
	On September 17, 2012, former CEO/founder Ryan Petersen resigned and chief marketing officer, Alex Mei was appointed as interim CEO. <ref> Press release: </ref>
			Reports in 2012 indicated that a possible acquisition of OCZ by ] fell through.<ref>{{Cite news \|title= No, Seagate Is Not Going To Buy OCZ Technology Group \|date= September 27, 2012 \|work= Forbes CIO Network blog \|author= Eric Savitz \|url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/09/27/no-seagate-is-not-going-to-buy-ocz-technology-group/ \|access-date= September 18, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|title= 'Seagate's OCZ gobble was real, but went sour in CEO row': Insiders claim former top dog Petersen wanted more control \|date= September 27, 2012 \|work= The Register \|author= Chris Mellor \|url= https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/27/seagate_ocz_petersen/ \|access-date= September 18, 2013 }}</ref>
			On September 17, 2012, founder and CEO Ryan Petersen was fired by his ], and chief marketing officer Alex Mei was appointed as interim CEO.<ref>{{Cite news \|work= Press release \|title= OCZ Board Appoints Alex Mei as Interim CEO; Accepts Ryan Petersen's Resignation \|url= http://ir.stockpr.com/ocztechnology/recent-news/detail/2143/ocz-board-appoints-alex-mei-as-interim-ceo-accepts-ryan-petersens-resignation \|url-status=dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120921054154/http://ir.stockpr.com/ocztechnology/recent-news/detail/2143/ocz-board-appoints-alex-mei-as-interim-ceo-accepts-ryan-petersens-resignation \|archive-date= September 21, 2012 \|access-date= December 9, 2013 }}</ref> Media outlets speculated that Ryan was ousted by the board of directors.<ref>{{Cite news \|title= Breaking: Ryan Petersen Ousted as CEO of OCZ Technology \|author= Anshel Sag \|work= Bright Side of News blog \|date= September 17, 2012 \|url= http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2012/9/17/breaking-ryan-petersen-ousted-as-ceo-of-ocz-technology.aspx \|access-date= December 9, 2013 }}</ref>

			In the early 2010s, SSD devices with the OCZ brand that use ], ], ]<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.oczenterprise.com/ssd-products/talos-2-r-sas-2.5-mlc.html\|title=OCZ Storage Solutions - Enterprise SSD and Software\|work=ocz.com\|access-date=2012-09-17\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127181458/http://www.oczenterprise.com/ssd-products/talos-2-r-sas-2.5-mlc.html\|archive-date=2013-01-27\|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ] interfaces, for both client and enterprise applications were produced and marketed. OCZ-branded power supply units were also manufactured.

			On October 10, 2012, OCZ appointed board member Ralph Schmitt as the company's president and CEO. Schmitt joined OCZ from PLX, where he served as president and CEO since 2008.<ref>{{Cite news \|title= OCZ Technology Appoints Ralph Schmitt as President and CEO \|date= October 10, 2012 \|work= Press release \|url= http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2012/514 \|url-status=dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121012232657/http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2012/514 \|archive-date= October 12, 2012 \|access-date= September 18, 2013 }}</ref>

			===Accounting practices===
			Several ] lawsuits revolved around questionable accounting practices during 2012.<ref>{{Cite web \|title= OCZ Technology Group Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit \|author= Bill Kyros \|work= Lawyer web site \|url= http://shareholderlawsuitscenter.com/latest-lawsuits/past-lawsuits/item/186-ocz-technology-group-inc-nasdaq-ocz-shareholder-class-action-lawsuit.html \|access-date= September 18, 2013 }}</ref> In May 2013 the NASDAQ gave OCZ until September 16, 2013 to file its delayed earnings.<ref>{{Cite news \|title= Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 \|work= Form 8-K \|publisher= US Securities and Exchange Commission \|date=May 28, 2013 \|url= https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1355128/000119312513239478/d545638d8k.htm \|access-date= September 18, 2013 }}</ref> The company was several quarters late in filing and restated earnings back to 2008.

			On September 12, 2013, the company disclosed it would not meet the deadline, which was then extended to October 7.<ref>{{Cite news \|title= OCZ Technology Receives Extension From NASDAQ \|date= September 12, 2013 \|work= Press release \|url= http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/ocz-technology-receives-extension-from-nasdaq-20130912-01310 \|access-date= September 18, 2013 }}</ref>

			2013 saw OCZ's revenue fall steeply from $88.6 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2012 to $33.5 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2013, while financial losses increased. OCZ took a $30 million loan at a steep 15% ] from Hercules Technology Growth Capital. Because OCZ put in their own firm as collateral for the loan, Hercules Technology Growth Capital would gain ownership of OCZ if OCZ failed to repay the loan.<ref>{{cite web \|url= http://www.itworld.com/hardware/379015/ocz-its-last-legs \|title= Is OCZ on its last legs? \|date= October 17, 2013 \|author= Andy Patrizio \|work= IT World \|access-date= November 6, 2013 }}</ref>

			After failing to meet the term of the loan, it was extended to June 2014, with the share price dropping 40% on November 4, 2013.<ref>{{cite web \|title= OCZ stock crashes to new low – will they survive? \|date= November 5, 2013\|author= Jan Willem Aldershoff \|work= Myce News \|url= http://www.myce.com/news/ocz-stocks-crashes-to-new-low-will-they-survive-69430 \|access-date= November 6, 2013 }}</ref> On November 25, 2013, Hercules took control of OCZ's bank accounts because it was not in compliance with the conditions of the loan.

			The ] charged former CEO Ryan Petersen and former CFO Arthur Knap for accounting failures. In a complaint filed in the ], the SEC alleged that OCZ's former CEO Ryan Petersen engaged in a scheme to materially inflate OCZ's revenues and gross margins from 2010 to 2012. It separately charged OCZ's former chief financial officer Arthur Knapp for certain accounting, disclosure, and internal accounting controls failures at OCZ. Knapp agreed to settle the SEC's charges without admitting the allegations against him. As of 2015, the SEC's litigation continued against Petersen, and finally came to a close in 2017.<ref>{{cite web \|url= https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-234.html \|title= SEC Charges Former Executives With Accounting Fraud and Other Accounting Failures \|date= October 6, 2015 \|author= SEC \|work= SEC \|access-date= October 6, 2015 }}</ref>

			===Toshiba acquisition===
			On November 27, 2013, OCZ Technology stock was halted. OCZ then stated they expected to file a petition for bankruptcy and that ] had expressed interest in purchasing its assets in a bankruptcy proceeding.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/7549/ocz-files-for-bancrupty-toshiba-offers-to-buy-the-assets \|title= OCZ Files for Bankruptcy - Toshiba Offers to Buy the Assets \|work= Anand Tech \|date= November 27, 2013 \|author=Kristian Vättö \|access-date= November 27, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|title= OCZ Filing for Bankruptcy, Announces Offer From Toshiba to Purchase Assets \|work= Press release \|date= November 27, 2013 \|url= http://ir.ocz.com/news/detail/3004/ocz-filing-for-bankruptcy-announces-offer-from-toshiba-to-purchase-assets \|access-date= December 3, 2013 \|url-status= dead \|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131130213359/http://ir.ocz.com/news/detail/3004/ocz-filing-for-bankruptcy-announces-offer-from-toshiba-to-purchase-assets \|archive-date= November 30, 2013 }}</ref> On December 2, 2013, OCZ announced Toshiba had agreed to purchase nearly all of OCZ's assets for $35 million.<ref>{{Cite press release \|title=OCZ Reaches Agreement With Toshiba Corporation to Acquire Solid State Drive Business \|url=http://ir.ocz.com/news/detail/3014/ocz-reaches-agreement-with-toshiba-corporation-to-acquire-solid-state-drive-business \|location=] \|publisher=OCZ Technology \|date=December 2, 2013 \|access-date=December 3, 2013 \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204202022/http://ir.ocz.com/news/detail/3014/ocz-reaches-agreement-with-toshiba-corporation-to-acquire-solid-state-drive-business \|archive-date=December 4, 2013 }}</ref> The deal was completed on January 21, 2014 when the assets of OCZ Technology Group became a new independently operated subsidiary of Toshiba named OCZ Storage Solutions.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.financialpost.com/markets/news/Toshiba+Corporation+Completes+Acquisition+Technology+Group+Assets/9414016/story.html \|title=Toshiba Corporation Completes Acquisition of OCZ Technology Group's Assets and Launches New Subsidiary, OCZ Storage Solutions \|publisher=Financial Post \|date=2014-01-21 \|access-date=2014-01-22}}</ref> OCZ Technology Group then changed its name to ZCO Liquidating Corporation;<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1355128/000119312514022190/d667358d8k.htm\|title=Form 8-K}}</ref> on August 18, 2014, ZCO Liquidating Corporation and its subsidiaries were liquidated.<ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1355128/000119312514313511/d775256d8k.htm\|title=Form 8-K}}</ref>

			In February 2014, the ] subsidiary was sold to FirePower Technology.

			OCZ Storage Solutions was dissolved on April 1, 2016 and absorbed into Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.,<ref name="CompanyWebsite"/><ref name="Valich"/> with OCZ becoming a brand of Toshiba. Toshiba later reorganized its memory products division under a new company and brand, ].

			==Reliability history==

			OCZ-branded SSDs were notable for high failure rates. Two lines from the old OCZ Technology Group, the Petrol and the ] versions of the Octane, had return rates of over 40% at one anonymous French technology online retailer. The SATA II version of the 128 GB Octane had a return rate of 52.07%. No other company had any SSDs with a return rate of over 5% from this retailer in the data set that was published on March 5, 2013.<ref>{{cite news \|last=Prieur \|first=Marc \|date=March 5, 2013 \|title=Les taux de retour des composants (8) \|trans-title=Component return rates (8) \|url=http://www.hardware.fr/articles/893-7/ssd.html \|language=fr \|newspaper=Hardware.fr \|publisher=Hardware.fr SARL \|access-date=July 23, 2014}}</ref> In a ] published on April 30, 2014, OCZ again had the highest return rates from the same anonymous retailer.<ref>{{cite news \|last=Prieur \|first=Marc \|date=April 30, 2014 \|title=Les taux de retour des composants (10) \|trans-title=Component return rates (10) \|url=http://www.hardware.fr/articles/920-7/ssd.html \|language=fr \|newspaper=Hardware.fr \|publisher=Hardware.fr SARL \|access-date=July 23, 2014}}</ref> The next dataset, published on November 6, 2014, shows only one OCZ drive, the OCZ Agility 3 480 GB, which had a much lower return rate of 1.34%.<ref>{{cite news \|last=Prieur \|first=Marc \|date=November 6, 2014 \|title=Les taux de retour des composants (11) \|trans-title=Component return rates (11) \|url=http://www.hardware.fr/articles/927-7/ssd.html \|language=fr \|newspaper=Hardware.fr \|publisher=Hardware.fr SARL \|access-date=November 22, 2014}}</ref>

			KitGuru tested five samples of the OCZ ARC100 240GB SSD, which was released after Toshiba acquired OCZ's assets, over four months in 2014 and 2015. The drives were deliberately tested to destruction; the lowest lifetime throughput was 350TB and the highest 700TB. The drive's warranty covers 20GB of data transfer a day for three years, a total of 22TB.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.kitguru.net/components/ssd-drives/zardon/ocz-challenge-kitguru-to-kill-5x-arc-100-ssd-drives/ \|title=OCZ challenge KitGuru to kill 5x ARC 100 SSD drives \|newspaper=Kitguru.net \|date=10 December 2014\|author= Allan 'Zardon' Campbell \|access-date= 5 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.kitguru.net/components/ssd-drives/zardon/ocz-competition-winner-final-arc-100-hits-695-5tb/ \|title=OCZ Competition winner: final ARC 100 hits 695.5TB! \|newspaper=Kitguru.net \|date=1 April 2015 \|author=Allan 'Zardon' Campbell \|access-date= 5 November 2016}}</ref>

	==References==		==References==
	{{reflist}}		{{reflist\|30em}}

	==External links==		==External links==
	{{commons category\|OCZ Technology}}		{{commons category\|OCZ Technology}}
	*		* {{Official website\|http://www.ocz.com}}
	*

			{{Toshiba}}
			{{Solid-state Drive}}
			{{Corporate scandals}}

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Latest revision as of 15:53, 7 December 2024

Former American computer hardware manufacturer

OCZ Storage Solutions

Formerly	OCZ Technology (2002-2014)
Company type	Subsidiary of Toshiba
Traded as	OTC Pink: OCZTQ Nasdaq: OCZ
Industry	Computer
Predecessors	Indilinx
Founded	August 2002; 22 years ago (2002-08)
Founders	Ryan Petersen Bhulinder Sethi
Defunct	April 1, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-04-01)
Fate	Dissolved and absorbed into Toshiba, then spun off into Kioxia
Successors	Toshiba Kioxia
Headquarters	San Jose, California, United States
Key people	Ralph Schmitt (CEO)
Products	Solid-state drives Random Access Memory
Number of employees	550 (April 24, 2013)
Parent	Kioxia
Subsidiaries	Indilinx
Website	ocz.com

OCZ was a brand of Toshiba that was used for some of its solid-state drives (SSDs) before they were rebranded with Toshiba. OCZ Storage Solutions was a manufacturer of SSDs based in San Jose, California, USA and was the new company formed after the sale of OCZ Technology Group's SSD assets to Toshiba Corporation. Since entering the memory market as OCZ Technology in 2002, the company has targeted its products primarily at the computer hardware enthusiast market, producing performance DDR SDRAM, video cards, USB drives, power supply units, and various cooling products.

OCZ Storage Solutions was dissolved on April 1, 2016 and absorbed into Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc, which later then became Kioxia.

History

OCZ was originally called "The Overclockerz Store" when it was founded by Ryan Petersen in 2000 selling overclocked Athlon processors. San Jose, California-based OCZ Technology Group, Inc. was founded in 2002 by Ryan Petersen and Bhulinder Sethi.

OCZ maintained satellite offices in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Israel along with manufacturing and logistics facilities in Taiwan. In June 2006, OCZ went public on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (LSE AIM), with the ticker symbol "OCZ". On May 25, 2007, OCZ acquired PC Power & Cooling, whose products include power supplies. PC Power & Cooling is in Carlsbad, California. It operated as a separate satellite office for OCZ and maintained its own product lines, although OCZ later launched OCZ-branded power supply models as well. In early March 2009, OCZ announced their intent to delist from the LSE to pursue a listing on an American stock exchange. On April 24, 2010, OCZ announced a listing on NASDAQ with the ticker symbol "OCZ".

In September 2010 OCZ announced the RevoDrive, which is a bootable PCI-E drive for the enthusiast market. It also recently announced an SSD interface called High Speed Data Link (HSDL), which is a PCIe/SAS hybrid interface, along with corresponding products to implement it. As of 2012, OCZ's SSDs offered up to a 1 TB capacity.

In November 2010, OCZ acquired intellectual property from Solid Data Inc., for Fibre Channel, SAS, and controller assets for solid state drives. The cost was approximately $950,000, paid with restricted common stock and cash.

OCZ discontinued all RAM production, citing poor market performance and the weakening global DRAM market, by the end of their 2010 fiscal year on February 28, 2011.

In March 2011, OCZ acquired Indilinx Company, Limited, a privately-held fabless provider of flash controller silicon and software for SSDs, for approximately $32 million of OCZ common stock.

On October 5, 2011, OCZ announced an intent to acquire PLX Technology's Abingdon R&D department (formerly Oxford Semiconductor), which specializes in storage SoC development.

In 2012 OCZ acquired Sanrad Inc., a privately-held provider of flash caching and virtualization software and hardware from the RAD Group; Sanrad became the OCZ Israel office. Reports in 2012 indicated that a possible acquisition of OCZ by Seagate Technology fell through. On September 17, 2012, founder and CEO Ryan Petersen was fired by his board of directors, and chief marketing officer Alex Mei was appointed as interim CEO. Media outlets speculated that Ryan was ousted by the board of directors.

In the early 2010s, SSD devices with the OCZ brand that use SATA III, PCI Express, Serial attached SCSI and USB 3.0 interfaces, for both client and enterprise applications were produced and marketed. OCZ-branded power supply units were also manufactured.

On October 10, 2012, OCZ appointed board member Ralph Schmitt as the company's president and CEO. Schmitt joined OCZ from PLX, where he served as president and CEO since 2008.

Accounting practices

Several shareholder lawsuits revolved around questionable accounting practices during 2012. In May 2013 the NASDAQ gave OCZ until September 16, 2013 to file its delayed earnings. The company was several quarters late in filing and restated earnings back to 2008.

On September 12, 2013, the company disclosed it would not meet the deadline, which was then extended to October 7.

2013 saw OCZ's revenue fall steeply from $88.6 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2012 to $33.5 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2013, while financial losses increased. OCZ took a $30 million loan at a steep 15% interest rate from Hercules Technology Growth Capital. Because OCZ put in their own firm as collateral for the loan, Hercules Technology Growth Capital would gain ownership of OCZ if OCZ failed to repay the loan.

After failing to meet the term of the loan, it was extended to June 2014, with the share price dropping 40% on November 4, 2013. On November 25, 2013, Hercules took control of OCZ's bank accounts because it was not in compliance with the conditions of the loan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged former CEO Ryan Petersen and former CFO Arthur Knap for accounting failures. In a complaint filed in the Northern District of California, the SEC alleged that OCZ's former CEO Ryan Petersen engaged in a scheme to materially inflate OCZ's revenues and gross margins from 2010 to 2012. It separately charged OCZ's former chief financial officer Arthur Knapp for certain accounting, disclosure, and internal accounting controls failures at OCZ. Knapp agreed to settle the SEC's charges without admitting the allegations against him. As of 2015, the SEC's litigation continued against Petersen, and finally came to a close in 2017.

Toshiba acquisition

On November 27, 2013, OCZ Technology stock was halted. OCZ then stated they expected to file a petition for bankruptcy and that Toshiba Corporation had expressed interest in purchasing its assets in a bankruptcy proceeding. On December 2, 2013, OCZ announced Toshiba had agreed to purchase nearly all of OCZ's assets for $35 million. The deal was completed on January 21, 2014 when the assets of OCZ Technology Group became a new independently operated subsidiary of Toshiba named OCZ Storage Solutions. OCZ Technology Group then changed its name to ZCO Liquidating Corporation; on August 18, 2014, ZCO Liquidating Corporation and its subsidiaries were liquidated.

In February 2014, the PC Power & Cooling subsidiary was sold to FirePower Technology.

OCZ Storage Solutions was dissolved on April 1, 2016 and absorbed into Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., with OCZ becoming a brand of Toshiba. Toshiba later reorganized its memory products division under a new company and brand, Kioxia.

Reliability history

OCZ-branded SSDs were notable for high failure rates. Two lines from the old OCZ Technology Group, the Petrol and the SATA II versions of the Octane, had return rates of over 40% at one anonymous French technology online retailer. The SATA II version of the 128 GB Octane had a return rate of 52.07%. No other company had any SSDs with a return rate of over 5% from this retailer in the data set that was published on March 5, 2013. In a dataset published on April 30, 2014, OCZ again had the highest return rates from the same anonymous retailer. The next dataset, published on November 6, 2014, shows only one OCZ drive, the OCZ Agility 3 480 GB, which had a much lower return rate of 1.34%.

KitGuru tested five samples of the OCZ ARC100 240GB SSD, which was released after Toshiba acquired OCZ's assets, over four months in 2014 and 2015. The drives were deliberately tested to destruction; the lowest lifetime throughput was 350TB and the highest 700TB. The drive's warranty covers 20GB of data transfer a day for three years, a total of 22TB.

References

^ "OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company". Retrieved April 26, 2016.
^ Valich, Theo (April 6, 2016). "Toshiba Rebrands OCZ Storage Solutions". VR-World. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
"OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company".
Anand Lal Shimpi (September 29, 2010). "OCZ's Fastest SSD, the IBIS and HDSL Interface Reviewed". Anand Tech blog. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
"OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company".
Press release: OCZ Technology Acquires Intellectual Property From Solid Data Inc. for Fibre-Channel, SAS, and Solid-State Drive Controller Assets Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Nov. 15, 2010
Hilbert Hagedoorn, OCZ to halt DRAM production completely, January 12, 2011
"Addition of High Performance Controller Technology and Firmware is Expected to Accelerate Storage Technology Innovation and Expand Product Portfolio". Press release. March 14, 2011. Archived from the original on March 16, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
Press release: OCZ Technology Acquires UK Design Team from PLX Technology, October 5, 2011
"OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company".
Eric Savitz (September 27, 2012). "No, Seagate Is Not Going To Buy OCZ Technology Group". Forbes CIO Network blog. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
Chris Mellor (September 27, 2012). "'Seagate's OCZ gobble was real, but went sour in CEO row': Insiders claim former top dog Petersen wanted more control". The Register. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
"OCZ Board Appoints Alex Mei as Interim CEO; Accepts Ryan Petersen's Resignation". Press release. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
Anshel Sag (September 17, 2012). "Breaking: Ryan Petersen Ousted as CEO of OCZ Technology". Bright Side of News blog. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
"OCZ Storage Solutions - Enterprise SSD and Software". ocz.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
"OCZ Technology Appoints Ralph Schmitt as President and CEO". Press release. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
Bill Kyros. "OCZ Technology Group Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit". Lawyer web site. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
"Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". Form 8-K. US Securities and Exchange Commission. May 28, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
"OCZ Technology Receives Extension From NASDAQ". Press release. September 12, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
Andy Patrizio (October 17, 2013). "Is OCZ on its last legs?". IT World. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
Jan Willem Aldershoff (November 5, 2013). "OCZ stock crashes to new low – will they survive?". Myce News. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
SEC (October 6, 2015). "SEC Charges Former Executives With Accounting Fraud and Other Accounting Failures". SEC. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
Kristian Vättö (November 27, 2013). "OCZ Files for Bankruptcy - Toshiba Offers to Buy the Assets". Anand Tech. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
"OCZ Filing for Bankruptcy, Announces Offer From Toshiba to Purchase Assets". Press release. November 27, 2013. Archived from the original on November 30, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
"OCZ Reaches Agreement With Toshiba Corporation to Acquire Solid State Drive Business" (Press release). San Jose, California: OCZ Technology. December 2, 2013. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
"Toshiba Corporation Completes Acquisition of OCZ Technology Group's Assets and Launches New Subsidiary, OCZ Storage Solutions". Financial Post. 2014-01-21. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
"Form 8-K".
"Form 8-K".
Prieur, Marc (March 5, 2013). "Les taux de retour des composants (8)" [Component return rates (8)]. Hardware.fr (in French). Hardware.fr SARL. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
Prieur, Marc (April 30, 2014). "Les taux de retour des composants (10)" [Component return rates (10)]. Hardware.fr (in French). Hardware.fr SARL. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
Prieur, Marc (November 6, 2014). "Les taux de retour des composants (11)" [Component return rates (11)]. Hardware.fr (in French). Hardware.fr SARL. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
Allan 'Zardon' Campbell (10 December 2014). "OCZ challenge KitGuru to kill 5x ARC 100 SSD drives". Kitguru.net. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
Allan 'Zardon' Campbell (1 April 2015). "OCZ Competition winner: final ARC 100 hits 695.5TB!". Kitguru.net. Retrieved 5 November 2016.

External links

Official website

Toshiba

Divisions
and subsidiaries

Current	Digital Products Group Electronic Devices & Components Group Infrastructure Systems Group
Defunct	Landis+Gyr Sord Computer Corporation Toshiba Information Systems Corporation Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation Toshiba Memory Corporation OCZ Storage Solutions Toshiba Telecommunication Systems Division Westinghouse Electric Company

Joint ventures
and shareholdings

Current	Ikegami Tsushinki (20%) TMEIC
Defunct	Dynabook Inc. Toshiba EMI (Founded as Toshiba Music Industries) Youmex Co. Japan Display Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Inside Films Inside The Beauty Inside The Power Inside

Predecessors

Products, services
and standards

Current

Past

Computers	Libretto W100 Pasopia 5 7 16 IQ Portégé Qosmio Satellite Pro 400 series A series C series P series S series T series T1000 LE T1100 T1200 T3100 Tecra

People

Places

Other

Now integrated into other Toshiba divisions or business groupings Sold Spun off

Category
Commons

Solid-state drives

Key terminology

Flash manufacturers

Micron
Samsung
SK Hynix
- Bought Intel's NAND flash SSD business and renamed it Solidigm
Flash Forward (joint venture between Western Digital and Kioxia)
YMTC
- XMC

Controllers

Captive	Western Digital SanDisk Fusion-io HGST sTec Kioxia OCZ (bankrupt, assets sold to Toshiba, which later spun off its SSD and flash business to Kioxia) Indilinx (bought by OCZ) Micron Samsung Seagate SandForce SK Hynix Bought Intel's NAND flash SSD business including controllers and renamed it Solidigm FADU
Independent	Greenliant Systems Goke Maxiotek Marvell Phison PMC-Sierra SMI

SSD manufacturers

List of solid-state drive manufacturers

Interfaces

Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI)
Fibre Channel (FC)
NVM Express (NVMe)
PCI Express (PCIe)
SATA Express
Serial ATA (SATA)
Serial attached SCSI (SAS)
Universal Serial Bus (USB)

Configurations

Related organizations

Category

v t e Corporate scandals
South Sea Company (1720) Panic of 1890 (Baring crisis) (1890) Salad Oil (1963) Kinney Services, Inc. (1971) Banco Ambrosiano (1982) Carrian Group (1983) Guinness (1986) Bofors scandal (1990) Polly Peck (1990) Bank of Credit and Commerce International (1990) Robert Maxwell (1991) Indian stock market scam (1992) Banesto (1993) Metallgesellschaft (1993) Towers Financial Corporation (1993) Barings Bank (1995) Sumitomo Corporation (1996) Lysine price-fixing conspiracy (1997) Daewoo (1999-2006) Long-Term Capital Management (2000) CINAR (2000) One.Tel (2001) Enron (2001) Adelphia (2002) WorldCom (2002) Parmalat (2003-2005) Tyco (2004) Bayou Hedge Fund Group (2005) Société Générale (2008) Bear Stearns (2008) Libor (2008–2012) Anglo Irish Bank (2008–2011) Volkswagen emissions scandal (2008–2015) Satyam (2009) 2G spectrum case (2010–2019) National Herald corruption case (2010–ongoing) News Corporation scandal (2011) Olympus (2011) Indian coal allocation scam (2012) OCZ (2012–2013) Saradha Group financial scandal (2013–ongoing) Forex (2013–ongoing) Toshiba (2015) 1Malaysia Development Berhad (2015–ongoing) Wells Fargo account fraud scandal (2016–ongoing) Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal (2018) Moser Baer (2019) Wirecard (2020) Nikola (2020) Facebook company files leak (2021)
See also Accounting scandals

Corporate scandals

South Sea Company (1720)
Panic of 1890 (Baring crisis) (1890)
Salad Oil (1963)
Kinney Services, Inc. (1971)
Banco Ambrosiano (1982)
Carrian Group (1983)
Guinness (1986)
Bofors scandal (1990)
Polly Peck (1990)
Bank of Credit and Commerce International (1990)
Robert Maxwell (1991)
Indian stock market scam (1992)
Banesto (1993)
Metallgesellschaft (1993)
Towers Financial Corporation (1993)
Barings Bank (1995)
Sumitomo Corporation (1996)
Lysine price-fixing conspiracy (1997)
Daewoo (1999-2006)
Long-Term Capital Management (2000)
CINAR (2000)
One.Tel (2001)
Enron (2001)
Adelphia (2002)
WorldCom (2002)
Parmalat (2003-2005)
Tyco (2004)
Bayou Hedge Fund Group (2005)
Société Générale (2008)
Bear Stearns (2008)
Libor (2008–2012)
Anglo Irish Bank (2008–2011)
Volkswagen emissions scandal (2008–2015)
Satyam (2009)
2G spectrum case (2010–2019)
National Herald corruption case (2010–ongoing)
News Corporation scandal (2011)
Olympus (2011)
Indian coal allocation scam (2012)
OCZ (2012–2013)
Saradha Group financial scandal (2013–ongoing)
Forex (2013–ongoing)
Toshiba (2015)
1Malaysia Development Berhad (2015–ongoing)
Wells Fargo account fraud scandal (2016–ongoing)
Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal (2018)
Moser Baer (2019)
Wirecard (2020)
Nikola (2020)
Facebook company files leak (2021)

See also: Accounting scandals

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