Hitachi steps up effort to double export of hard disk drives

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) steps up effort to more than double its global exports of hard disk drives (HDD) for use in consumer electronics (CE) devices.

According to Kazuya Takeda, general manager of Hitachi’s Laguna facility, CE is the fastest growing segment of the $23 billion HDD industry.

Hitachi had previously announced plans to more than double shipments of hard drives that are used in CE applications in 2005.

It has been predicted that 20 percent to 22 percent of all hard drives shipped in 2005 would be used in CE devices, compared to only 15 percent in 2004.

It is also projected that the HDD industry would ship more than 40 percent or some 200 million hard drives for consumer electronics (including home networking and storage) applications in 2008.

Hitachi GST, which led the industry in hard drive shipments for CE in the fourth quarter of 2004 and ranked second for the whole year, is mobilizing company resources to outpace industry growth by more than doubling its total shipment of CE hard drives in 2005.

Hitachi GST’s Laguna-based manufacturing facility, with more than 6,000 employees and a five-time winner of the Export Development Council of the Philippines, is playing a prominent role in Hitachi’s CE growth strategy.

Hitachi GST’s product portfolio includes: the 1.8" Travelstar in 20-, 30-, 40- and 60-gigabyte capacities which is ideal for MP3 players, personal media players and portable external storage products. Produced solely in the Philippines, Hitachi’s 1.8" hard drive is the smallest in its category; the 4- and 6-gigabyte Microdrive digital media is the world’s most popular 1" drive for use in miniaturized MP3 players, personal digital assistants, digital still and digital video cameras.

The Laguna facility, which expects to begin volume shipments of the product in April, is augmenting Hitachi’s existing Microdrive production in Thailand.

As the world’s leading supplier of 1" hard drives, Hitachi GST expects to more than double shipments of Microdrives in 2005; the 2.5" Endurastar hard drive, in 20- and 30-gigabyte capacities, offers a wide temperature range (-20 degrees C to +85 degrees C), making it highly suitable for automotive applications, such as vehicle navigation and diagnostics.

Hitachi is the leading provider of 2.5" hard drives overall and ranks number two in hard drives intended for use in automotive applications; Hitachi ‘s Laguna facility also produces key hard-drive components-sliders and magnetic heads–for its own use and for export to other Hitachi HDD manufacturing sites worldwide.

These components are highly complex and packaged in specially designed clean rooms that provide a dust-free environment with constant temperature and relative humidity. Hitachi plans to boost production of sliders at its Laguna facility by more than 60 percent in 2005. Hitachi has shipped more than 250 million magnetic heads from its Laguna facility during the site’s 10-year history.

The Laguna facility is one among nine manufacturing plants that Hitachi GST has worldwide, with seven based in Asia Pacific.

Reflecting on the company’s 10-year tenure in Laguna, Takeda noted that its highly developed workforce and geographic proximity to Hitachi ‘s AP-based customers and other manufacturing facilities underscore the importance the facility plays in Hitachi ‘s business success.

"The rapid adoption of hard drives in CE applications, along with Hitachi GST’s intensified focus in this segment, further reinforces our commitment to the Philippines as a home base of operations," Takeda said.