RITEK Corporation manufactures

optical disc In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc that encodes binary data ( bits) in the form of pits and lands on a special material, often aluminum, on one of its flat surface ...

s such as

CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the i ...

CD-RW CD-RW (Compact Disc-Rewritable) is a digital optical disc storage format introduced in 1997. A CD-RW compact disc (CD-RWs) can be written, read, erased, and re-written. CD-RWs, as opposed to CDs, require specialized readers that have sensi ...

DVD-R DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bu ...

DVD-RW DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...

DVD+R DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bu ...

DVD+RW DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('burn ...

DVD-RAM DVD-RAM (DVD Random Access Memory) is a DVD-based disc specification presented in 1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media have been used in computers as well as camcorders ...

HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the ...

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and Blu-ray M-Disc, storage cards such as CF (

CompactFlash CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994. CompactFlash became one of the most successful of the e ...

) cards, SD cards and MMC cards (

MultiMediaCard The MultiMediaCard, officially abbreviated as MMC, is a memory card standard used for solid-state storage. Unveiled in 1997 by SanDisk and Siemens, MMC is based on a surface-contact low pin-count serial interface using a single memory stack s ...

memory stick The Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, originally launched by Sony in late 1998. In addition to the original Memory Stick, this family includes the Memory Stick PRO, a revision that allows greater maximum storage capacity an ...

and

consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic ( analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usuall ...

. Ritek also produces solar modules and touch panel products such as passive matrix OLEDcleanenergyauthority.com, Ritek solar
retrieved 12 September 2020. and ITO glass. Ritek has also launched a few products in

nano- Nano (symbol n) is a unit prefix meaning "one billionth". Used primarily with the metric system, this prefix denotes a factor of 10−9 or . It is frequently encountered in science and electronics for prefixing units of time and length. ...

and biotechnology.RITEK company profile, Metal Mask, retrieved 12 September 2020.
/ref> The company's English name is a portmanteau of the words “right” and “technology”. Ritek Corporation was established in 1988 with efforts to manufacture Compact discs. In 1990 the company produced the first compact disc in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

.ritek.com, Our Journey, chapter 1990, retrieved 12 September 2020
In November 2005 the company had a market share of 20 percent in rewritable DVDs and CD-RWs and was so the biggest disc-manufacturer worldwide. In September 2020 Ritek has 5,900 employees.

Locations today

#Taiwan : Chungli,

Hsinchu Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inhabi ...

#Mainland China : Yangzhou,

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a stron ...

#Vietnam :

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

#South Korea :

Cheongwon County Cheongwon County (''Cheongwon-gun'') was a county in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. It was dissolved on July 1, 2014 and consolidated to Cheongju. Cheongwon was twinned with: * Cangzhou, Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately ...

#The Netherlands : Ridderkerk #United States : Los Angeles

Trade marks and brand

RITEK, RIDATA, TRAXDATA, ARITA, imation (since November 2019)imation.com, 2019-11-13, Imation global license announcement
retrieved 2020-09-13.

Prehistory and start

Yeh Ching-Tai, founder of RITEK, started to manufacture and market

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts ne ...

s History of Ritek on company website, retrieved 12 September 2020
in 1957. In 1958, he published the album “

Green Island Serenade "Green Island Serenade" (; also known as "Serenade of Green Island") is a Mandarin Chinese classic song composed in 1954 by Chow Lan-ping (). It was composed for the soundtrack for a film. It was later performed by Zi Wei (紫薇) and became a hit s ...

”, performed by Zi Wei, a famous female singer of the time. At that time, the production process was completely manual. Waste gases and toxic chemical solutions were all over the manufacturing environment at the high temperature of . Meanwhile, the materials deteriorated easily and as a result, the yield was low. Quality depended entirely on the experience of manufacturing supervisors and the process cost a lot of time and money. During this period, Yeh Ching-Tai made improvements introducing new technologies and machines from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, looking for new materials and developing new manufacturing processes. Eventually the vinyl record industry in

finally began to produce better products in improved manufacturing environments. Due to the insufficient quantity of recording equipment and facilities in Taiwan at that time, Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai felt it would be necessary to preserve Peking Opera, Nan-Guan and Bei-Guan as educational and cultural heritage. In 1980, he invested a significant amount in the creation of Platinum Studio in 1980, by importing from Switzerland a 24-track recorder.ritek.com, Our Journey chapter 1980, retrieved 12 September 2020
It was the first multitrack recorder in Taiwan. The studio also invited technicians from Japan to give instructions. It was at that juncture that Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai learned that the Japanese people were starting to produce

Compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...

s. In 1985, the R&D and ramp-up of compact discs were transforming the record industry as a new technology. Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai realized that digitalization was the trend for the record industry and he immediately initiated on R&D activities on compact discs.ritek.com, Our Journey chapter 1985, retrieved 12 September 2020
In 1988 the Ritek Corporation was established, in 1990 the company produced the first compact disc in Taiwan and put an end to Taiwan's reliance on imports from Japan. This also directly contributed to the booming of the local music market.

Milestones

Before founding

1952 *Former Chairman of Ritek Corporation, Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai, set up Min Li Plastics (明理塑膠工廠) after he graduated. The factory produced plastic cigarette boxes and polyethylene milk bottles. During that period, he purchased a second-hand electroplating tool from Japan, with the original intention of plating chromium on plastics to enhance durability. However, this didn't work out. He then moved to electroplate copper and nickel on the stampers of vinyl records. This was how he got into the record business. Meanwhile, Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai established First Vintage Record and Platinum Studio. 1960 *Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai, former owner of First Vintage Record and Platinum Studio was a big shot in the record business. He set up vinyl record production facilities in Sanchungpu in 1960. As part of the business for First Vintage Record, he took Sally Yeh, a famous singer, to perform and market albums throughout department stores. Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai also introduced the recording technology from Japan to establish Platinum Studio. 1980 *Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai imported from Switzerland 24-track recorders and invited a technician from Japan for instructions. At that time, he mentioned that digitalization was the trend for the record industry. Japan was already trial producing compact disks. To ensure time to market, Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai recruited a group of engineers from the Industrial Technology Research Institute in 1985 to manufacture compact disks. They started with simple plastic pressing to accumulate technological expertise.

Since founding

1988 *Mr. Yeh Ching-Tai founded RITEK Corporation. 1989 *The company received awards in the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions. 1990 *In May, the company manufactured the first compact disk in Taiwan with support from the Mechanical and Systems Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute. 1991 *The company became a formal member of the IFPI Members Foundation in Taiwan. 1994 *The company set up facilities for the production of compact discs in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. 1996 *Ritek Corporation had its IPO in Taiwan. *The company initiated CMA (Compact Disk Manufacturers Association) aiming to protect copyright for CD replication. *The company set up facilities for the production of compact disks in the U.S. *The company manufactured the first CD-RW in Taiwan. *The company manufactured the first DVD in Taiwan. 1997 *The company signed a copyright verification agreement with the Taiwan offices of the Music Publishers Association. *The company set up facilities for the production of compact disks in the U.K. *The company manufactured the first DVD-R in Taiwan. *The company became the first compact-disc maker in Taiwan that obtained the

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO ...

certification. 1998 *The company manufactured the first DVD-RAM in Taiwan. 1999 *The company became the first compact-disc maker in Taiwan that obtained the

ISO 14001 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) ...

certification. *The company set up with

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

Joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

facilities for the manufacturing of CD-R in Germany (PrimeDisc Technologies in Wiesbaden). *The company manufactured the first OLED in Taiwan. *U-TECH Media Corporation was formed as the largest pre-recorded medium manufacturer in Taiwan. *Ritek Foundation was established. 2000 *The company became the first compact-disc maker in Taiwan that obtained the QS9000 certification. *

MiniDisc MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio. Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year fo ...

by Ritek won a Taiwan Excellence Award.taiwanexcellence.org, Ridata Mini Disc (MD) - Taiwan Excellence 2000
retrieved 12 September 2020. 2001 *The company built fully automated OLED mass production lines in the world. *RiTdisplay Corporation was established as OLED manufacturer in Taiwan. *HUTEK Corporation was established in China for the production of compact discs. *PRORIT Corporation was founded as CD boxes and disk packaging manufacturer. 2002 *Li Wenshang, Marketing Assistant Manager, Global Strategic Marketing, RITEK Corporation, indicated that RITEK is the first company in the world capable of mass-producing CD－R/RW, DVD－R/RW, DVD＋R/RW and DVD-RAM, MD (licensed by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

), MO and Data Play. Its management philosophy is commitment to knowledge & innovation, racing against time and pursuit of customers’ satisfaction. 2003 *RME was set up in Germany as a printing and packaging plant for compact discs. 2004 *Ritek Japan Inc., the subsidiary in Japan, was established. 2006 * In November 2006 Ritek became exclusive producer of Maxell CD-Rs and DVDs.cdrinfo.com 14 November 2006, Ritek to Become Exclusive ODM Maker for Hitachi Maxell
retrieved 13 September 2020. 2007 *Ritek North Africa Inc., a subsidiary in North Africa, was established. *AimCore Technology Co., Ltd. was established as a manufacturer of ITO glass. 2008 *Ritek's memory stick as part of uniforms received iF Product Design Award from iF International Forum Design. *Ritek entered a strategic alliance with Scheuten, a solar company in Europe. 2009 *PV Next, a thin-film solar manufacturer dedicated to (copper indium gallium selenide), was established. 2011 *Ritek Solar worked with SolarEdge to develop new business opportunities in solar systems. *Ritek showcased the new IM series solar modules at Intersolar, Munich, with a 25% improvement in power generation efficiency. 2013 *Ritek launched M-DISC DVD and M-DISC BD, storage solutions that promise to last hundreds of years. 2014 *Ritek entered into the long-term storage medium market. 2015 *Ritek started to manufacture PMOLED wearables. 2016 *Ritek's solar module won the Taiwan Excellent PV Award from the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C (Taiwan). *Ritek forged an alliance with Japan's largest chain elderly daycare center, founded Ricare Day Service Center. 2017 *Ritek Group renovates the 1950s American military club and founded Brick Yard 33 1/3. *RiData OTG Flash Drive won the Gold Award for Technology Trends by PC HOME and PC ADV 3C famous and professional medias in Taiwan. 2018 *Became Japan

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

's overseas only Archival Disc (AD) production partner. *Achieved OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Certification. *Achieved ISO 14001:2015 Certification. *Green Partner Certification of Sony.sony.net/SonyInfo, Green Procurement (a comment with Link to Sony Standard SS-00259 (18th Edition, 2020), retrieved 12 September 2020
*Achieved ISO 9001:2015 Certification. *Achieved BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), Certification. 2019 *Ritek got licences by imation.

Ritek Foundation

*Ritek Foundation was established in 1999.

Equity investments

*AimCore Technology Co., Ltd. : ITO glass *U-TECH Media Corporation : pre-recorded compact disks *U-Chain : warehousing and logistics *RiTdisplay Corporation : PMOLED *RiteDia : diamond-like carbon coating *RitFast Corporation : touch panels *CASHIDO : nano technology *PRORIT Corporation: high-precision plastic injection *RitPower: solar modules

References

{{Coord, 24, 52, 17, N, 121, 1, 13, E, display=title Electronics companies of Taiwan Photovoltaics Thin-film cell manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Hsinchu Taiwanese companies established in 1988 Taiwanese brands