NetApp

NetApp, Inc., formerly Network Appliance, Inc., is an American computer storage and data management company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. It is a member of the NASDAQ-100. It was ranked on the Fortune 500 for the first time in 2012.

History

NetApp was founded in 1992 by David Hitz, James Lau, and Michael Malcolm. At the time, its major competitor was Auspex Systems. In 1994, NetApp received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital. It had its initial public offering in 1995. NetApp thrived in the internet bubble years of the mid 1990s to 2001, during which the company grew to $1 billion in annual revenue. After the bubble burst, NetApp's revenues quickly declined to $800 million in its fiscal year 2002. Since then, the company's revenues have steadily climbed.

In 2006, NetApp sold the NetCache product line to Blue Coat Systems. On June 1, 2015, Tom Georgens stepped down as CEO and was replaced by George Kurian.

Competition

NetApp competes in the data-storage devices industry. In 2009, NetApp ranked second in market capitalization in its industry behind EMC Corporation and ahead of Seagate Technology, Western Digital, Brocade, Imation, and Quantum. In total revenue of 2009, NetApp ranked behind EMC, Seagate, Western Digital, and ahead of Imation, Brocade, Xyratex, and Hutchinson Technology. According to a 2010 IDC report, NetApp ranked third in the network storage industry "Big 5's list", behind EMC and IBM, and ahead of HP and Dell, with the list's largest annual revenue growth at 47.4%.