Trek 2000 International
Trek 2000 International Limited is a Singaporean technology company that is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX:TREK). The company is the inventor of the ubiquitous ThumbDrive,[1] a Universal Serial Bus (USB) data storage device, which revolutionised the way digital data is stored and transferred. The company owns a library of more than 600 patents, with 360 granted patents. As of December 2011, the company’s annual revenue amounted to US $86.1 million.[2]
History
In 1995, Trek’s current chief executive officer and chairman Henn Tan bought over the company, then a family-owned electronic components trading business, for S$1 million with a plan to provide customised engineering solutions to companies.[3][4] Tan and his engineers subsequently began to explore ways to utilise the USB interface to create a device that could replace the floppy disk, and this led to the eventual development of the now-ubiquitous ThumbDrive.[5]
In 2000, Trek launched the ThumbDrive at the CeBIT international trade fair for information technology and telecommunications solutions in Germany. Response to the product was overwhelming even though the booth was only modestly decorated. The success of the ThumbDrive propelled Trek into the global arena. The company grew from a five-man outfit to a global enterprise with offices in more than ten countries including the United States, Netherlands, Japan, India, China and the Philippines.
Products
Trek’s portfolio of products includes the ThumbDrive, Flucard, and Ai-Ball.[6] Similar to the ThumbDrive, which displaced the floppy disk as the conventional medium of storage, the Flucard is an intelligent Wi-Fi enabled SD Card that is touted to eventually replace the standard SD Card. Trek also provides customised engineering design solutions that cater to the specific requirements and needs of its customers.
Awards & Recognition[7]
- Asia Money Best Managed Company (Singapore), 2003
- Forbes Global World’s 200 Best Small Companies, 2002
- Forbes World Best 300 Companies, 2000
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc (“IEEE”) Award, 2011
- ASEAN Business Awards, 2011
- Invent Singapore Award, 2008
Partnership[8]
References
- ↑ 'Trekking' Onwards with IP
- ↑ Trek 2000 International Ltd. (2011). Annual report 2011. Retrieved June 08, 2012, from http://trek2000.listedcompany.com/misc/ar2011.pdf
- ↑ Tan, M. P. (2006, March 8). From caning and joking to trekking. The New Paper. Retrieved January 14, 2010, from Factiva database
- ↑ Au Yong, J. (2006, January 8). The drive to succeed. The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 14, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
- ↑ Ho, A. (2006, January 13). Protecting patent an uphill Trek. The Straits Times. Retrieved on March 14, 2011, from NewspaperSG
- ↑ Chua, H. H. (2010, January 21). S'pore-made wireless camera memory card. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from Factiva database
- ↑ Awards, Trek 2000 Website
- ↑ Partners, Trek Official Website