Zoom was founded by Masahiro Iijima and Michihito Nozokido in 1983. Iijima was an engineer working at KORG who had always dreamed of creating his own company and brands. In establishing Zoom Corporation, Iijima's goal was to honour KORG founder Tsutomu Kato and all the things he had learned at the company.
Zoom released its first product in 1989, the 9002, a multi-effects unit for guitar that looked more like a Walkman than a revolutionary device for bedroom musicians. 2000 saw the release of the GFX-8, an enormous hybrid analogue/digital effects processor with 6 jumbo footswitches, and an expression pedal baked into the army green and yellow chassis. It was an entire pedalboard's worth of quality tone at a price you didn't have to sell your grandmother for.
This same philosophy runs through all of the brand's products. They are of high-enough quality to be used in professional applications, but affordable enough to be attainable for aspiring amateurs. Whether you're looking for a video recorder, an audio recorder, or a multi-effects unit, the company's price-to-performance ratio is simply unparalleled.
Photo credit: Free To Use Sounds