Hitachi is focusing its efforts and targeting emerging markets to do what IBM couldn"t--make money with hard drives.
Executives from a Hitachi and IBM hard drive joint venture, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, will announce on Monday a new business strategy and products aimed at increasing the company"s market share and reaching profitability.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies was formed at the end of 2002 and is 70 percent owned by Hitachi and 30 percent owned by IBM. The San Jose, Calif.-based company is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Hitachi, which will pay for the remaining 30 percent over the next three years. IBM had lost more than $500 million over the last two years in the hard drive business, which is notoriously competitive and yields thin margins.
"We want to extend beyond IT and develop four separate business units, each responsible for their own results," said Dr. Jun Naruse, chief executive of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Those units will target the mobile, desktop and server markets. The fourth will focus on emerging markets such as consumer electronics and automobiles.