PCMCIA was based on the original initiative of the British mathematician and computer scientist Ian H. S. Cullimore,[1] one of the founders of the Sunnyvale-based Poqet Computer Corporation,[1] who was seeking to integrate some kind of memory card technology as storage medium into their early DOS-based palmtop PCs,[1] when traditional floppy drives and harddisks were found to be too power-hungry and large to fit into their battery-powered handheld devices.

[1] When in July 1989,[1] Poqet contacted Fujitsu for their existing but still non-standardized SRAM memory cards, and Intel for their flash technology,[1] the necessity and potential of establishing a worldwide memory card standard became obvious to the parties involved.

[1][2] By early 1990, some thirty companies had joined the initiative already, including Poqet, Fujitsu, Intel, Mitsubishi, IBM, Lotus, Microsoft and SCM Microsystems (now Identiv).

[4] PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, the group of companies that defined the standard.

[6] To recognize increased scope beyond memory, and to aid in marketing, the association acquired the rights to the simpler term "PC Card" from IBM.