Surging demand for 1” and 1.8” hard disk drives (HDD) has made Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) announce five new design studios around the globe. With these five centers, Hitachi expects to accelerate the adoption of hard drives in CE devices and thus become the leader of the fastest-growing segment of the hard disk drive industry.
The company also announced a two-fold plan: (i) to double production of the 1 inch drive which are used in Apple Computer’s iPod mini; and (ii) treble the output of its new 1.8 inch Travelstar drives which offer even better sales prospects in the near future.
In 2004, the company had shipped 3.9 million 1 inch drives and 1.3 million 1.8 inch drives which are used in Dell Inc.’s Dell DJ music players.
Market trends point to a rapidly growing demand for smaller drives. This growth is driven by the boom in portable music players and also by the fact that smaller hard drives will soon replace flash memory in portable devices like cellphones.
Standard 3.5 inch drives will continue to represent the majority of Hitachi’s output but sales of smaller drives are expected to grow much faster because of the worldwide growing market of mobile products.
The plans appear to be in accordance with their agenda drawn at the end of 2004. Focusing on growth areas would turn the loss-making operations around. Sharp drop in prices had led to an operating loss of $42.08mn in calendar year 2004.
The new Hitachi Design Studios would be open for business by April. They are located in Fujisawa, Japan; Havant, UK; Rochester, Minnesota; Shenzhen, China and Taipei, Taiwan.
They will provide support to small and medium-sized customers, an area where some of the most innovative applications are born. This is also where hard-drive integration support is most needed. A few select large customers that have new applications such as hard drive-enabled mobile phones, would also be catered to. ]
Engineers at these studios will advise customers on selecting the right hard drive, software compatibility with various operating systems, reliability and mounting considerations, and design integration. Working with CE customers, Hitachi also hopes to be able to determine consumer trends and work with its Research and Development departments to tailor new hard drives. The Hitachi studios will initially provide support on eight application areas, with special emphasis on MP3/PMP, DVR and mobile phone applications:
1. Recording -- digital video recorder, personal video recorders, set-top box, digital audio recorder, iVDR, CCTV
2. Photography -- digital still & video cameras
3. Entertainment -- personal video player, video viewer, personal media player, MP3, flat panel TVs
4. Industrial -- external storage, USB applications, industrial applications (printer, copiers, switches, routers, PBX, robotics, test & measurement)
5. Handhelds -- smart phones, PDA, wearable PC, GPS, converged devices
6. Automotive -- automotive systems, navigation systems, telematics
7. Gaming -- game consoles (information appliances)
8. Reference designs -- provide help for developing prototype designs with hard drives
Customers working through the Hitachi Design Studios can also qualify for the "Hard Drive by Hitachi" ingredient branding program. This red-and-white sticker, affixed to the outside of the end-user device, signifies the high quality and integral role that the Hitachi's hard drive plays within the device.
Hitachi, Japan’s largest electronics had acquired IBM's disk drive business in 2002 for $2.05bn and was last year the world's second largest manufacturer after Seagate.
