| Type | Electronic Component Distributor |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Headquarters | Thief River Falls, Minnesota |
| Website | http://www.digikey.com |
Digi-Key is the fourth largest electronic component distributor in North America and a broad-line distributor of board level components. It ranks as the 8th largest electronic component distributor in the world. Ronald Stordahl founded the company in 1972 and its name was derived from the digital electronic keyer kit that he developed and marketed to amateur radio enthusiasts.[1] It was called the “Digi-Keyer Kit.”
Mark Larson, who joined Digi-Key in 1976 as its general manager, has been its president since 1985. He has led the company from its initial focus on the hobbyist market to the expanded market it serves today.
In 1995, Digi-Key introduced its website that offers complete online commerce capabilities along with access to product inventory. Digi-Key currently hosts 82 websites in eight supported languages.
In only six years, Digi-Key has moved from 16th largest to fifth largest among the more than 300 electronic component distributors in North America. According to their website, in 2007 EE Times conducted a survey in which engineers rated Digi-Key “#1 for Overall Performance for the 16th Consecutive Year.”
Digi-Key is located in a single, centralized location in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, USA. Its facility measures 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) and houses over 2,400 employees. Its product distribution center stocks over 500,000 products from over 470 manufacturers and ships to 170 countries worldwide.[2]
Digi-Key serves design engineers and the prototyping market, as well as an expanding role in supplying production quantities for OEMs and contract manufacturers.