View source for JT Storage

{{short description|Hard drive manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| logo = File:JTS Corporation wordmark.svg
| name = JTS Corporation
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| industry = [[Electronics industry|Electronics]]
| fate = [[Liquidation]] Due To [[Bankruptcy]]
| predecessor = Kalok Corporation
| founded = {{Start date and age|1994|02|03}}
| founders = {{Unbulleted list|[[Sirjang Lal Tandon]]|David Pearce}}
| defunct = {{End date and age|1999|01|28}}
| hq_location_city = [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[California]]
| hq_location_country = [[United States]]
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|David "Tom" Mitchell (CEO, 1995–1999)|[[Jack Tramiel]] (Director, 1996–1998)}}
| products = [[Hard disk drive|Hard Drives]]
| brands = [[Atari (brand)]]
}}
'''JTS Corporation''' was a maker of inexpensive [[Advanced Technology Attachment|IDE]] [[hard drive]]s for [[personal computer]]s based in [[San Jose, California]]. It was founded in 1994 by [[Sirjang Lal Tandon|"Jugi" Tandon]]&mdash;the inventor of the double-sided [[floppy disk drive]] and founder of [[Tandon Corporation]]&mdash;and David B. Pearce, of former bankrupt disk manufacturer Kalok.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=A History of JT Storage / JTS |url=https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/jt_storage.html |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=mcurrent.name}}</ref> Its name is derived from its co-founder, standing for ''Jugi Tandon Storage''.
The company later [[reverse takeover|reverse-merged]] with [[Jack Tramiel]]'s [[Atari Corporation]] in 1996,<ref name="EGM102"/> sold all Atari assets to [[Hasbro Interactive]] in 1998<ref name="ataritohasbro"/> and was finally declared bankrupt in 1999.
==History==
It was founded under the legal name JT Storage, Inc., but traded as JTS Corp.'''<ref name=":0" />''' A few months after its foundation, Pearce departed the company, with Tandon filling his role as president. Then in June 1995, Tom Mitchell, a co-founder of [[Seagate Technology|Seagate]] and former president and Chief Operating Officer of both Seagate and [[Conner Peripherals]], was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of JTS.<ref name=":0" />
===First products===
JTS initially focused on a new 3" form-factor drive for [[laptop|laptops]]. The 3" form factor allowed a larger drive capacity for laptops with the existing technology. [[Compaq]] was actively engaged in qualifying these drives and built several laptops with this form factor drive. Lack of a second source was a major obstacle for this new form factor to gain a foothold; JTS licensed the form factor to [[Western Digital]] to attempt to remedy this problem. Eventually, as 2.5" drives became cheaper to build, interest in the 3" form factor waned, and JTS and WD stopped the project in 1998.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}
JTS by then had become a source of cheap, medium-performance 3.5" drives with 5400 RPM spindles. The drives, produced in a factory in [[India]] (the factory was in the Madras Export Processing Zone in the suburbs of the Southern Indian city of Madras, now known as [[Chennai]]), were known for poor reliability. Failure rates were very high and quality control was inconsistent: good drives were very good, still running after 5 years, whereas bad drives almost always failed within a few weeks. Because of their low-tier reputation, JTS drives were rare in brand-name PCs and most frequently turned up in home-built and whitebox PCs. Product lines included Palladium and Champion internal IDE hard drives.
The basic design of their drives was done by Kalok for [[TEAC Corporation|TEAC]] in the early 1990s.<ref name="usp5446609">
{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=5446609
|status=patent
|title=Low profile disk drive assembly
|gdate=1995-08-29
|fdate=1992-10-15
|assign1=TEAC Corporation
|assign2=Pont Peripherals Corporation
}}</ref><ref name="usp5886850">{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=5886850
|status=patent
|title=High capacity, low profile disk drive system
|gdate=1999-03-23
|fdate=1995-05-15
|assign1=TEAC Corporation
|assign2=DZU Corporation
}}</ref> TEAC used the design as part of a removable HDD system,<ref name="hdd0040">{{cite web
|url         = http://www.teac.com/DSPD/pdf/hdd0040a.pdf
|title       = SD3250N, SD3360N, SD3540N (Removable Hard Disk Drives) - Installation guides and CMOS Setup parameters
|url-status     = dead
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20061111044628/http://www.teac.com/DSPD/pdf/hdd0040a.pdf
|archive-date = 2006-11-11
}}</ref> which was also sold under the Kalok name. After Kalok failed in 1994, JTS hired its founder as their chief technical officer, and licensed the patents involved from TEAC and Pont Peripherals.<ref name="jts-1996-s4">{{cite web
|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/941167/0000950153-96-000413.txt
|title=Form S-4: Registration under the Securities Act of 1933: JTS Corporation
|date=1996-06-22
|accessdate=2008-01-25
}}</ref>
===Merger with Atari Corporation===
On February 13, 1996, JTS announced a [[reverse takeover|reverse merger]] with former [[video game]] and [[home computer]] manufacturer, [[Atari Corporation]]<!-- Atari Corp. as distinct from "Atari Games" -->.<ref name="GPro92">{{cite magazine |title=The Life and Death of Atari |magazine=[[GamePro]] |issue=92 |publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=May 1996|page=20}}</ref> It was primarily a marriage of convenience; JTS had products but little cashflow, while Atari had money, primarily from a series of successful lawsuits earlier in the decade followed by good investments. However, with the failure of its [[Atari Jaguar|Jaguar game console]], losses mounting, and no other products to sell, Atari expected to run out of money within two years. Originally it was planned that the storage company and Atari would be two separate divisions under JTS, but in April the merger was amended so that Atari would merge into JTS, with JTS being the surviving entity.<ref name=":0" /> Atari's [[Jack Tramiel]] would take a place on JTS's board of directors.<ref name=":0" />
Within a few months of the merger becoming official on July 30,<ref name="EGM102">{{cite magazine |title=Video Game Timeline |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=102 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=January 1998 |page=137}}</ref> all former Atari employees were either dismissed or relocated to JTS's headquarters.<ref name="NGen24">{{cite magazine|last=Thomas|first=Don |title=Atari's Historic Road to Nowhere |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=24 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=December 1996|pages=97–104}}</ref> Atari's remaining inventory of Jaguar products proved difficult to get rid of, even at [[liquidation]] prices, and the bulk of them remained in stock months after the merger<ref name="NGen24" /> until finally being moved out to a private liquidator on December 23, 1996. [[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation Online]] reported that JTS did not honor the Atari side of the business despite owning all these assets: no video game software was developed during this time,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hasbro to Buy Atari from JTS |url=https://www.atarimax.com/freenet/freenet_material/3.AtariNews/showarticle.php?576 |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=www.atarimax.com}}</ref> although licensing to third-parties did result in a handful of releases: [[THQ]]'s ''Super Breakout / Battlezone'' on Game Boy, [[Midway Games|Midway]]'s [[Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1|''Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1'']], [[Activision]]'s [[Battlezone (1998 video game)|''Battlezone'']] on PC, and a number of Jaguar games by [[Telegames]].'''<ref name=":0" />'''
=== Demise ===
The company secured $25 million in finances in September 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998-01-27 |title=JTS Corp. Press Release |url=http://www.jtscorp.com/press.92697.25million.html |access-date=2024-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980127040418/http://www.jtscorp.com/press.92697.25million.html |archive-date=1998-01-27 }}</ref> But even with the cash infusion from Atari and the investments, JTS quickly ran out of money. On March 13, 1998, JTS sold the [[Atari]] name and assets to [[Hasbro Interactive]] for $5 million,<ref name="ataritohasbro">{{cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/atari-goes-to-hasbro/1100-2462915/|title=Atari goes to Hasbro|publisher=GameSpot|date=April 28, 2000}}</ref> less than a fifth of what [[WarnerMedia#Warner Communications (1972–1990)|Warner Communications]] had paid the [[Atari, Inc.|original Atari company]] 22 years earlier. On two occasions in April, JTS staff were [[laid off]] including some former long-time Atari individuals, and the company was soon forced out of [[American Stock Exchange|AMEX]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Thomas, Jr. |first=Donald A. |date=2006-03-12 |title=-1998- |url=http://www.icwhen.com/book/the_1990s/1998.shtml |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=ICWhen.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060312080624/http://www.icwhen.com/book/the_1990s/1998.shtml |archive-date=2006-03-12 }}</ref> Later that year, on December 11, JTS filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection]],<ref name=":1" /> with a reported $4.2 million assets and $136 million of [[Liability (financial accounting)|liabilities]].<ref name=":0" /> However, on January 28, 1999, the company was closed down for good when its filing was ultimately converted into [[Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code|involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation]] by the bankruptcy courts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas, Jr. |first=Donald A. |date=2006-03-12 |title=-1999- |url=http://www.icwhen.com/book/the_1990s/1999.shtml |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=ICWhen.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060312080444/http://www.icwhen.com/book/the_1990s/1999.shtml |archive-date=2006-03-12 }}</ref> Its president and CEO, Tom Mitchell, returned to the disk storage industry the following year when he founded Fabrinet.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maleval |first=Jean Jacques |date=2022-11-06 |title=History 2000: Return of Tom Mitchell to Storage Industry |url=https://www.storagenewsletter.com/2022/12/01/history-2000-return-of-tom-mitchell-to-storage-industry/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=StorageNewsletter |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19971017194640/http://www.jtscorp.com/|date=October 17, 1997|title=Official website}}
{{Hard disk drive manufacturers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jt Storage}}
[[Category:American companies established in 1994]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1999]]
[[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1998]]
[[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1999]]
[[Category:Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1994]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1999]]
[[Category:Computer storage companies]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in San Jose, California]]