When SSDs were first introduced to the consumer way back in 07/08, many companies understood the value of what could be brought to the table and jumped aboard the new SSD train. SanDisk was the first to appear, followed by Samsung and Intel, all being NAND flash memory manufacturers. Several third-party companies were quick to join in through contracts with these SSD manufacturers, subsequently selling these SSDs under their own branding. There might be a slight variation in hardware or firmware, but for the most part, the SSDs were identical. Through time, this practice had become extinct, or so we thought.