Delkin Blog

STEC was once a major player in the OEM marketplace, but since the company has ceased making OEM products, a large number of OEMs have sought replacements with the same features and reliability as the STEC products they know. Transitioning to a new CompactFlash storage solution can be a nerve-wracking process for OEMs, who need to be able to make the change without a major disruption in supply or failures in the field. If you’re an OEM who hasn’t found the replacement for a STEC Compact Flash product, this information will help.

The Story of STEC

STEC was a company with a bright future when they entered the marketplace. The company put all of its focus on the OEM space, but they quickly ran into difficult competition and experienced a dramatic downfall in their success. Revenues fell over 41% within the space of a year, at the same time that the company was dealing with insider trading allegations.

To get past these complications, STEC decided to transition out of the OEM market entirely in order to take on the enterprise and end-customer markets. These markets require fewer product qualifications than the OEM market, so they gave STEC a way to reverse their downfall. Initially, STEC operated with a mixed product line as they phased out their OEM products and introduced more enterprise and end-customer products. Eventually, they left the OEM market completely. For OEMs and engineers who relied on STEC products, this created the complication of trying to find a suitable replacement without having to redesign their application.

Finding STEC Compact Flash Replacements

Since the CompactFlash Association sets design parameters for CompactFlash storage designs, the fundamentals of CompactFlash cards from other manufacturers should be the same, which helps to reduce the complications of replacing STEC components. However, it’s important to also ensure that the other features of the memory cards line up. For example, for OEMs replacing an 18GB CompactFlash card from STEC, only an 18GB CompactFlash card from another manufacturer will be a suitable option. Similarly, since STEC offered a controlled BOM, customer support, and a high degree of product reliability in rugged operating conditions, any replacement product must also do the same.

Delkin offers the widest range of industrial grade CompactFlash memory cards on the market, and our product team can help you find the right replacement for your STEC component. Contact us today to find out more about our CompactFlash memory cards and other embedded storage options.