Fresh buying opportunities in disk drive sector--
Both SEG (no suprise) and QNTM (a slight surprise) issued warnings after the market close today.
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday December 10, 4:31 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
ADVISORY/Quantum Corp. Conference Call: Wed., Dec.
10, 1997, 2:30 p.m. PST
--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Quantum Corp. will conduct a conference call with the investment community on Wednesday,
December 10, 1997, at 2:30 p.m. PST, to discuss the expected results of its third quarter of fiscal
1998. A press release will be issued before the call begins at approximately 1:30 p.m PST
The dial in number for the live conference call is: 1-800-553-3540 or 303/267-1001 (no password
required for live call)
If for any reason you are unable to participate, a digital replay of the conference call will be
accessible until Thursday, December 11th, at 5:00 p.m. PST. To access the replay, dial:
1-800-696-1563 or 303/267-1037 / pass code: 261347.
Contact:
Quantum
Renee Budig, 408/894-5563
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday December 10, 4:30 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Quantum Earnings for Third Fiscal Quarter to be Lower
Than Prior Quarter
MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 1997--Quantum Corporation (NMS:QNTM)
today stated that its third quarter earnings will be below what the company achieved in the prior
quarter.
The company expects to report earnings per share fully diluted in the range of 25(cent) to 35(cent)
for the quarter, excluding previously announced special charges. The decline in earnings relative to
the prior quarter is driven in part by the continued aggressive pricing in the distribution channel for
desktop hard disk drives. Although unit shipments of hard disk drives will likely be up from the prior
quarter, revenue could be relatively flat with the $1.5 billion reported in the September quarter. In
addition, as a result of some transition issues in the DLTtape(tm) systems business, revenue and
contributions to earnings will be relatively flat with the September quarter.
As the company has stated recently, the aggressive pricing for desktop hard drives that has been
referenced by others in the storage industry added significant risk to the company's quarter. ''Now
one week into the final month of the quarter, it is clear that the significant negative impact of the
continued intense pricing pressures in the distribution channel will outweigh any positive impact of
improved channel or product mix in terms of our overall results,'' said Michael Brown, Quantum's
chief executive officer. ''To avoid contributing to the over-supply of drives in the distribution
channel, we reduced our build plan, but we still expect to have record unit shipments based on the
strength of our OEM shipments to date. OEM demand for our desktop products remains strong, we
have a strong product portfolio, and we are pleased with the ramps of our new desktop products.''
Both the Fireball(tm) SE (2.1 GB/platter) and the Bigfoot(tm) TX (4 GB/platter 5 1/4-inch) drives
are qualified and shipping to major OEMs.
''In terms of the DLTtape systems business, tape drive demand remains strong, we continue to
successfully ramp the DLT(tm) 7000, and we continue to exceed our model for profitability,'' Brown
said. ''However, revenue from DLTtape systems as well as the resulting contribution to Quantum's
earnings could be relatively flat with last quarter as a result of two transitional issues. First, as
customers transition from our older DLTtape products to the DLT 7000, we are seeing a decrease
in shipments of older products offset by the continued strength of the DLT 7000. Second, media
sales have been relatively soft as customers adjust to the cartridge requirements of the DLT 7000
which has greater capacity per cartridge. These types of transition issues are difficult to anticipate in
terms of timing, but are typical of product transitions of the magnitude we are executing with the
DLT 7000. We expect both of these transition issues to ease as we enter our next quarter.''
The company's expectations regarding results for the third fiscal quarter are forward looking
statements and actual results could vary. Actual results could be impacted by accounting adjustments
made during the closing of the quarter, the roll up of actual results for the quarter from the company's
business units, the actual operating results obtained, and the market environment for the balance of
the quarter.
Founded in 1980, Quantum Corporation is the only storage company that has developed leadership
positions in both fixed and removable storage products. One of the highest volume global suppliers
of hard disk drives and the leader in the mid-range tape market, Quantum is widely recognized as
the industry's quality leader. The company sells a broad range of storage products to OEM and
distribution customers worldwide. Quantum's sales for the fiscal year ending March 1997 were $5.3
billion. The company's world wide web home address is quantum.com.
Contact:
Quantum Corporation
Renee Budig, 408/894-5563 (Investor Relations)
Rbudig@mail.qntm.com
or
Holly Campbell, 408/894-5058 (Public Relations)
hcampbel@qntm.com
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday December 10, 4:00 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Seagate Technology, Inc.
Seagate to Close Manufacturing Facility in Clonmel,
Ireland
CLONMEL, Ireland, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Seagate Technology, Inc. (NYSE: SEG - news)
today announced that it will close its disc drive manufacturing operations in Clonmel, Republic of
Ireland. The decision comes in the face of major challenges facing the disc drive industry today,
including significant overcapacity, downward pricing pressures and lower margins. The plant closure
is scheduled to take place when the current product build schedule is completed in early 1998. As a
result of this action, approximately 1,100 regular positions and 300 temporary positions will be
eliminated in Clonmel. The Company will take a restructuring charge associated with the closure.
''This is an action we regret having to take, but is a necessary step in Seagate's efforts to remain
competitive and maintain its industry leadership position in a challenging business environment,'' said
Al Shugart, Seagate chairman and chief executive officer. ''A declining price structure, intense
competition and increasing market fragmentation have placed increasing pressure on Seagate's
operating performance, as well as that of a number of other competitors. As stated in recent weeks,
Seagate has been reviewing its worldwide operations to improve efficiency, lower cost and bring
capacity in line with market requirements. Despite significant efforts to reduce costs in Clonmel, the
highly structured nature of disc drive assembly makes the higher costs associated with the facility
extremely difficult to overcome.''
Seagate has notified the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment of its intention to
cease manufacturing operations at its Clonmel plant. Seagate will be working in cooperation with the
employees, the IDA and other local and national government representatives in Ireland to mitigate as
much as possible the effects of this closure to the community. In addition to job outplacement,
severance packages and other services provided to effected employees, Seagate will be offering
relocation opportunities to a small number of Clonmel staff.
The world's leading disc drive supplier, Seagate will continue to manufacture drives at its other
assembly plants worldwide, where the Company is producing new products designed for today's
Desktop, Mobile and High End computer applications. These products include 2.5-inch, 3.5-inch
and 5.25-inch disc drives in capacities ranging from 2 Gigabytes to 47 Gigabytes to meet the needs
of a wide variety of users and their individual information storage requirements.
This press release contains forward-looking statements associated with the state of the disc drive
industry, the closure of the Clonmel facility and the attendant position eliminations and restructuring
charges and the Company's operational performance. These forward-looking statements are based
on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include future developments in the disc drive industry, the respective parties'
cooperation in closing the Clonmel facility and the company's operational performance. Seagate
undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances
after the date thereof.
Seagate Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of technology and products enabling people to store,
access, and manage information. The Company is committed to providing best-in-class products to
help people get their information when, where and how they want it. Seagate is the world's largest
manufacturer of disc drives, magnetic discs and read-write heads, a market leader in tape drives,
and a leading developer of software for information availability, access and analysis. With nearly $9
billion in revenues for its 1997 fiscal year, Seagate can be found around the globe and on the World
Wide Web at seagate.com.
SOURCE: Seagate Technology, Inc.
More Quotes and News:
Seagate Technology Inc (NYSE:SEG - news)
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