In case you were wondering about the other ~30% of the HDD spindle motor market, here's a brief map of the competitive landscape. With fluid dynamic bearing technology cross-licensed from Seagate in March 2000 [miniature ball bearings seem so 20th century <g>], Minebea was targeting a 36% market share but has apparently fallen well behind this goal and lately is struggling to attain profitability.
See chart on page 4 of 7 (Adobe Acrobat) or 8 of 11 (Minebea 2000):
minebea.co.jp
The previous page outlines Minebea March 2000 cross license agreement with Seagate, transferring Seagate's fluid dynamic bearing to Minebea in return for Minebea's mass production capabilities. Later in the year 2000, Nidec purchased the factory in Thailand for HDDs of Seagate Technology, Inc., establishing Nidec Hi-Tech Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
bonito.nidec.co.jp
The following sentence stands out in an Oct 31, 2003 report by CSFB Japan:
In our view, Nidec stands well above Minebea in the HDD motor market. However, we think Minebea’s shares should not be evaluated based simply on a comparison with Nidec, but also on the merit of being one of the four surviving players in the HDD motor market, and on whether this business can swing into the black.
Who are the other 2 "survivors"?:
• Johnson Electric Holdings Limited (JELCY.PK)
• Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd.
biz.yahoo.com
Looks like a classic "winner takes all" market, with the rest of the pack after Nidec all on life support. |
