Western Digital Corporation (commonly referred to as Western Digital and often abbreviated as WDC) is an American computer data storage company and one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers in the world, along with its main competitor Seagate Technology. Western Digital Corporation has a long history in the electronics industry as an integrated circuit maker and a storage products company. Western Digital was founded on April 23, 1970, by Alvin B. Phillips, a Motorola employee, as General Digital, initially (and briefly) a manufacturer of MOS test equipment. It rapidly became a speciality semiconductor maker, with start-up capital provided by several individual investors and industrial giant Emerson Electric. Around July 1971, it adopted its current name and soon introduced its first product, the WD1402A UART.