Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. was founded in Tokyo on March 23, 1950, by Hikohachi Sato. Initially, the company specialized in dielectric ceramics and capacitors.
In 1982, Taiyo Yuden entered the audio cassette market under the "That's" brand. In North America, some of its products were sold under the "Triad" brand.
Driven by the growth of the audio and video cassette market and rising demand, the company opened the Yawatabara Plant - a facility dedicated to magnetic tape production - in Takasaki, Gunma, in October 1986.
The company was active in research and development, securing British patents for magnetic tape in 1987, as well as Japanese patents for cassette structural components and friction materials.
In December 1988, Taiyo Yuden established a manufacturing subsidiary, TAIYO YUDEN (PHILIPPINES), INC. This was its first overseas manufacturing subsidiary.
Concurrently, Taiyo Yuden began actively developing optical media; in 1987, it partnered with Sony to establish START Lab Inc. for the CD-R business in Japan. In September 1988, the company commercialized the world's first recordable optical medium - the CD-R - and it was Taiyo Yuden that coined the term "CD-R."
According to unconfirmed information, Singapore's General Magnetics received equipment and production molds from Taiyo Yuden in 1992.
On June 11, 2015, Taiyo Yuden officially announced the discontinuation of its recordable media business. Its optical media assets were transferred or sold to the Taiwanese company CMC Magnetics.