What Coughlin Associates does

Coughlin Associates is a privately held digital storage consulting and market research firm founded by Thomas M. Coughlin in 2000, operating from Silicon Valley, California. The firm generates revenue through three primary streams: (i) one-time licensed research reports priced at $7,500 per company license covering emerging non-volatile memory, media and entertainment storage, and self-encrypting drive markets, with the "Digital Storage for Media and Entertainment" report in its 18th annual edition; (ii) a recurring $250/year quarterly Digital Storage Technology Newsletter subscription that bundles membership in the Entertainment Storage Alliance; and (iii) professional consulting engagements spanning technology development, market and technology forecasting, intellectual property analysis, technical writing, and expert witness services. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via the company's e-commerce website, complemented by conference presence and Tom Coughlin's Forbes.com contributor column.

The company's core assets are domain expertise and content rather than technology platforms. Tom Coughlin brings 40+ years of storage industry experience, a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Shinshu University, 6 US patents, and over 500 published articles, reports, and book chapters. The firm also founded and organizes Storage Visions (2002) and Creative Storage Conferences (2007), and Tom Coughlin serves as General Conference Chair for the Flash Memory Summit. It is active in IEEE, SNIA, SMPTE, and IDEMA standards activities. The firm is essentially a solo-practitioner expert model with stated headcount of 1–10, operating without external funding or parent company ownership.

Name

Coughlin Associates

Legal name

Coughlin Associates

Website

https://tomcoughlin.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Coughlin Associates is a founder-led digital storage consulting and market research firm selling $7,500 industry reports, a $250/year newsletter, and expert consulting services to media, entertainment, and memory technology companies worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Atascadero

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Market Research Reports: Sale of detailed digital storage technology and market research reports, priced at $7,500 per company license. Reports cover topics like emerging memories, media and entertainment storage, and self-encrypting drives.
2. Newsletter Subscription: Quarterly Digital Storage Technology Newsletter subscription at $250/year, includes membership in Entertainment Storage Alliance and report discounts.
3. Consulting Services: Data storage consulting services including technology development, project and corporate management, technical writing, educational technology classes, intellectual property analysis, and expert witness services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Coughlin Associates is a digital storage and memory technology research and consulting firm that sells proprietary multi-hundred-page market and technology forecasting reports (typically priced at $7,500 per company license), a quarterly Digital Storage Technology Newsletter at $250/year, and bespoke data storage consulting services including technology development, IP analysis, expert witness testimony, and standards-body engagement. The firm also organizes and chairs major storage industry conferences.

Product overview

Coughlin Associates is a consulting and research firm specializing in digital storage technology analysis. The company operates as a single-product service model offering periodic research reports alongside consulting services. Core products include the Digital Storage Technology Newsletter (quarterly publication since 1985), and a portfolio of specialized market/technology research reports covering emerging memory technologies (EM 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2026 editions), media and entertainment storage (2022 edition), and self-encrypting drive technology (2015). Thomas M. Coughlin, founder and lead consultant with 40+ years of industry experience, provides complementary consulting services including technology forecasting, conference organization, technical writing, and expert witness testimony. The Storage Visions Conference (founded 2002) and Creative Storage Conference (founded 2007) are industry events organized by the company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Storage Technology Newsletter Quarterly publication providing digital storage technology analysis and insights for storage industry professionals. Annual subscription at $250/year and includes membership in the Entertainment Storage Alliance and report discounts.
• Digital Storage for Media and Entertainment Report (2022 edition) Eighteenth annual comprehensive reference analyzing worldwide data storage requirements and trends for entertainment content acquisition, editing, archiving, digital cinema, broadcast, satellite, cable, network, internet, and OTT/VOD distribution. Sold to media and entertainment companies.
• Self-Encrypting Drive Market and Technology Report (2015 edition) Report covering trends in self-encrypting hard disk drives and solid state drives, including history, capability adoption, and projections for both client and enterprise applications. Sold as a company license at $3,000.
• Emerging Memories Enter The Next Phase Report (2022 edition) 241-page report on non-volatile solid state storage and memory technologies and their impact on manufacturing and test equipment, with 10-year forecasts through 2032. Sold as a company license at $7,500.
• Emerging Memories Branch Out Report (2023 edition) 272-page report examining leading emerging memory technologies including PCM, RRAM, FRAM, MRAM, STT MRAM and others, explaining market growth and competitive positioning against standard memories, with forecasts through 2033. Sold as a company license at $7,500.
• A Deep Look at New Memories 2024 Report 275-page report addressing technology developments in non-volatile solid state storage and memory technologies, with 10-year forecasts through 2034 and vendor profiles. Includes a free subscription to the Digital Storage Technology Newsletter. Sold as a company license at $7,500.
• New Memories: Not Just For AI Report (Emerging Memories 2026 edition) 337-page report examining all leading emerging memory technologies, explaining how they compete against standard memories both as standalone chips and in embedded SoC applications, with forecasts through 2035. Sold as a company license at $7,500.
• Data Storage Consulting Services Professional consulting services covering data storage technology development, project and corporate management, market and technology forecasting, technical writing, educational technology classes, intellectual property analysis, and expert witness services. Delivered directly to enterprise clients by Tom Coughlin.

Quantifiable outcome

• Eighteenth annual Digital Storage for Media and Entertainment report demonstrating sustained market demand and industry trust.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Entertainment Storage AlliancecoreOthersThe Digital Storage Technology Newsletter subscription includes membership in the Entertainment Storage Alliance (www.entertainmentstorage.org). This partnership provides networking and community for entertainment and storage industry professionals.
• Storage Visions ConferenceflagshipOthersFounded by Tom Coughlin in 2002, the Storage Visions Conference attracts experts in digital storage and memory and their applications. The conference creates visions for digital storage at future Storage Visions Conference events.
• Creative Storage ConferenceflagshipOthersFounded by Tom Coughlin in 2007, the Creative Storage Conference helps make valuable connections and provides understanding of latest trends and requirements for digital storage and memory to serve creative minds and create new and growing markets.
• Flash Memory SummitflagshipOthersTom Coughlin has served as General Conference Chair for the Flash Memory Summit for over 12 years, positioning Coughlin Associates at the center of the flash memory industry.
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)coreOthersTom Coughlin is IEEE President-Elect 2023 and has been active in IEEE leadership including IEEE-USA President, Region 6 Director, and past chair of IEEE Silicon Valley section. He is also active in SNIA and SMPTE standards organizations.
• SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association)coreTechnology or IntegrationTom Coughlin has been involved with standards activities at SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association) alongside IEEE and IDEMA.
• IDEMAcoreTechnology or IntegrationTom Coughlin has been involved with standards activities at IDEMA (International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association) alongside IEEE and SNIA.
• SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers)coreTechnology or IntegrationTom Coughlin is active in SMPTE technical conferences alongside IEEE and SNIA activities, connecting media/entertainment storage expertise with industry standards bodies.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• TrendForce: TrendForce (including the DRAMeXchange brand) is a global market intelligence provider specializing in DRAM, NAND, SSD, and HDD research, publishing detailed quarterly and annual reports with forecasts. Direct peer because both serve storage/memory buyers with similar forecast-driven report products and price points.
• Objective Analysis: Objective Analysis is a semiconductor market research firm specializing in SSD, NAND flash, and emerging memory markets, founded by Jim Handy. Directly comparable because it serves the same storage/memory customer base with subscription and syndicated reports in a similar price band to Coughlin's emerging memory series.
• Forward Insights: Forward Insights provides market research and consulting on memory and storage technologies, including NAND, DRAM, and emerging non-volatile memories. Closely comparable to Coughlin Associates in scope, customer base, and report-driven niche focus on storage forecasting.
• Jon Peddie Research: Jon Peddie Research is a boutique market research firm covering graphics, multimedia, and storage technologies with annual reports and forecasts. Directly comparable to Coughlin Associates as a specialist research firm serving niche technology markets with founder-led analyst coverage and premium report pricing.

Emerging players

• Counterpoint Research: Counterpoint Research is a global tech market research firm with practice areas covering memory, storage, and smartphones. Comparable to Coughlin in serving technology buyers with research reports, but with broader scope, a more distributed analyst model, and consumer-electronics orientation.
• TechInsights: TechInsights (formerly Chipworks) provides reverse engineering, teardown, and technology analysis of semiconductors including memory and storage devices. Comparable to Coughlin's deep technical analysis of storage components, with overlap in serving semiconductor IP and strategy customers.
• Yole Group: Yole Group (Yole Développement, System Plus Consulting, and Piséo) provides market research and teardown analysis for semiconductors, memory, and storage technologies. Comparable to Coughlin in delivering deep technology and market reports to semiconductor buyers, with additional reverse-engineering capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• IDC: IDC is a global market intelligence firm with substantial storage and semiconductor research practices covering enterprise, cloud, and consumer segments. Functions as a broad incumbent that competes with Coughlin for enterprise storage research buyers but at vastly greater scale and analyst headcount.
• Gartner: Gartner is a leading IT research and advisory firm with storage technology analysts producing Magic Quadrants and research notes. Competes with Coughlin Associates for enterprise IT buyer mindshare but operates with a much broader portfolio and a syndicated subscription model.
• Omdia: Omdia (formed from the IHS Markit technology research business, now part of S&P Global) covers memory, storage, and semiconductor markets with detailed forecast reports. Broad incumbent that overlaps with Coughlin's enterprise storage and memory coverage but serves a wider enterprise buyer base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thomascoughlin
• Facebookfacebook.com/thomas.coughlin.908
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/thomas-coughlin-41a65

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coughlin Associates