Posted on Wednesday, October 10 2012 @ 19:03 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
A couple of weeks ago OCZ Technology CEO Ryan Petersen stepped down, the reason why
he departed the company is unknown but there was speculation that the board forced him to resign due to OCZ's poor financial performance. Today OCZ announces it has found a new president and CEO, Ralph Schmitt, who has been a member of the company's board of directors since April 2011.
OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCZ) a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced its board of directors has appointed Ralph Schmitt as the Company’s president and chief executive officer effective immediately. Ralph Schmitt has been a member of the Company’s board of directors since April 2011.
“I am pleased to announce that OCZ’s board has appointed Ralph Schmitt as the Company’s president and chief executive officer,” said Adam Epstein, OCZ’s lead independent director. “Ralph’s knowledge of OCZ’s business, customers, and target markets along with his extensive management experience and technical expertise make him the ideal person to lead OCZ through the next phase of its development.”
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Schmitt stated, “I am excited and honored to have been asked to lead OCZ, and look forward to working with the Company’s talented, dedicated employees to deliver leading solid state solutions. Innovation, quality and profitability will be the principles that drive the Company going forward. We will overcome some near term tactical challenges, and we will focus relentlessly on increased value to both our investors and customers. We have an amazing opportunity in front of us and we will take full advantage of our position, products and people to be successful.”
Mr. Schmitt joins OCZ from PLX Technologies, Inc., a provider of semiconductor-based connectivity solutions primarily targeting the enterprise and consumer markets, where he served as president and CEO from 2008 until yesterday.
Mr. Schmitt is the on the board of the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), and remains on the board of PLX. Prior to his leadership tenure at PLX, he acted as CEO of Legend Silicon, a privately funded Chinese terrestrial digital TV semiconductor company in 2008. From 2005 through 2007, Mr. Schmitt was CEO of Sipex, an analog semiconductor company that merged with Exar in 2007, where he was appointed CEO.
From 1999 to 2005, Mr. Schmitt was executive vice president of sales, marketing, and business development for Cypress Semiconductor where he led sales growth to over $1 billion, while also overseeing the acquisition and integration of numerous companies. He has served on private and public boards ranging from semiconductor, to solar and systems companies. Mr. Schmitt holds a B.S.E.E. from Rutgers University and started his career as storage system designer.
