Fujitsu, for example, hopes to unload its loss-making hard-disk business, but it recently took full control of a joint-venture to sell computers as part of a push into computer-related services.
Luck may be on Luczo's side: The notoriously cyclical disk drive business seems to be bottoming just as Luczo takes over.
Since selling its disk drive business more than 10 years ago, the company has focused on data protection and big data management.
FORBES: Ten Properties of the Perfect Big Data Storage Architecture
Toshiba, the third largest player in the industry, announced its margins on its disk drive business will be cut in half this year.
One thing left for him to do: fix the high-end disk drive business, where the company used to think it was going to make all of its money.
Fujitsu is eager to shed its loss-making hard-disk drive business, in order to focus on gaining ground against formidable rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard in information technology services consulting.
As early as the late 1980s Quantum Corp. saw which way the wind was blowing and attempted to reposition itself away from its traditional business of supplying small disk drives to PC manufacturers.
"The public perception has been that solid-state will take over the world and run disk makers out of business, but you can't bring that product to market without licensing disk drive technology, " said WilliamWatkinsWilliam Watkins, Seagate's chief executive, in an interview with Forbes.
"The public perception has been that solid-state will take over the world and run disk makers out of business, but you can't bring that product to market without licensing disk drive technology, " said William Watkins , Seagate's chief executive, in an interview with Forbes.
Marvell has dominated every market it has chosen to enter, with superior designs at a premium price: It knocked Texas Instruments out of the disk-drive chip business and rivals Broadcom in key communications markets like Ethernet ports and Wi-Fi radios.
Heck, IBM invented the hard disk drive then sold the whole business to Hitachi several years ago at just about the right time.
Xyratex and Intevac shares are both trading sharply higher, in anticipation that the producers of hard-disk drive manufacturing equipment could be a beneficiary from the troubles now plaguing the drive business due to the recent devastating floods in Thailand.
Disk drives are just one of those (few, but not non-existent) business sectors where globalisation has increased the concentration of production, not reduced the concentration.
应用推荐