Toshiba celebrated, Tuesday, the 25th anniversary of invention of NAND flash technology. The company, which had invented it in 1987, now has 203,000 employees, with over 490 subsidiaries and affiliates.

The technology was invented by Dr. Fujio Masuoka in 1987, who was the brains behind the NOR and NAND types, while at Toshiba.

Masuoka had brought a lawsuit against Toshiba, asking for $9.1 million for the invention, in 2006. He received $785,000.

Toshiba was slow to market the invention, though, with Intel bringing the technology to market first in 1988 through the 28F256.

Since then, NAND flash technology has grown rapidly, shipping almost eight times more gigabytes in 2011 than DRAM. NAND flash memory is used in a range of devices, from USB drives to memory cards, along with cloud applications.

"Toshiba's innovation has carved out a path to a new era in which consumers are able to carry videos, music, books and data with them wherever they go. Designed with a very small cell size to enable a low cost-per-bit of stored data, Toshiba's NAND flash technology is unleashing the mobility of content," MarketWatch reported.

"NAND flash has truly permeated our lives -- this technology has been a game changer, making the world a different place and making many of the products we use today possible. The cost/performance of NAND flash continues to stand the test of time ... is leading the way to thin and light hardware, has made the mobility of content possible, and is enabling 'green storage' in data centers," said Scott Nelson, vice president of the Memory Business Unit at TAEC (Toshiba America Electronic Components).

Toshiba will continue the celebration of its anniversary throughout 2012, with industry events and an interactive campaign that explores the impact of NAND flash technology.

Toshiba is Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturer and the world's fourth largest semiconductor manufacturer. The company manufactures solid state drives, hard disk drives, LCD displays, medical tubes and wireless components (among other products) that are used across a wide range of devices.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)