Certron Corporation was incorporated in 1966 in California, USA. It was initially located at 1545 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025, then briefly at 11845 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, and later returned to Sawtelle (Suite 12).
In 1970, the company opened a European office in Switzerland (Lugano) and a warehouse (Basel) and announced the construction of a factory.
In 1971, production began in Mexicali, Baja California, with a design capacity of up to 18 million cassettes per year.
In addition to producing cassettes under its own brand, Certron was a major OEM manufacturer and contract assembler.
In particular, the article about Certron (Billboard 1980) provides a list of customers for whom the products were replicated and manufactured: Everest, Audio Fidelity, Audio Masters, Hosanna, Hot Shot Productions, Harmil, Pro Media, California Education of the Bar.
Billboard 26/08/1972
By the early 1980s, Certron was actively expanding its product line, which included audio cassettes; VHS; professional magnetic tape rolls ("hubs"); magnetic tape for dubbing studios; tape for voice recorders; and recording studio media. In 1980, Billboard reported that Certron was planning to enter the professional studio tape market.
In the late 1980s, the company moved some operations to Anaheim, and in 1989, it merged the two companies, but retained a separate distribution warehouse.
In 1991, Certron practically went into mass retail - Certron products are sold through Target, Kmart and other chains.
Production was reduced to audio and video cassettes and floppy disks.
In 2001, the Mexicali plant closed, and contract manufacturing ceased. The company gradually abandoned its own production, and most cassettes began to be purchased from Asian manufacturers—distribution became its primary activity.
After 2004, the magnetic media business effectively ceased.