To: Stitch who wrote (4199 ) 10/28/1998 11:00:00 AM From: Mark Oliver Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 5058
Stitch, Quantum makes public the beginnings of dissolving MKQC. It looks like they will divide assets with MKE and MKE may continue to operate the slider fabrication and assembly operation in Batam, Indonesia. Do you see them maintaining this business? Assembly still seems like a business asset if I am not mistaken. On the other hand, Quantum will take control wafer development and associated operations located in Shrewsbury and Louisville, Colo., which seems to be the most worthless part of the joint venture, or am I mistaken? So, how do they proceed from here? Do they sell the business and let another company continue to operate it, or do the shut it down for a total loss? I was also thinking of DLT tape heads. I would guess that Quantum has also developed tape heads in Shrewsbury. Is it possible that they would retain some tape head development, or will this again strengthen RDRT now that they are qualified to supply SDLT heads? Regards, Mark Quantum Corp. and Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. Agree to Legally Dissolve Recording Heads Joint Venture MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 1998--Quantum Corporation of Milpitas, Calif. (Nasdaq/NMS:QNTM - news) today announced an agreement with Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. (MKE) of Japan to legally dissolve the MKE-Quantum Components LLC (MKQC) recording heads joint venture based in Shrewsbury, Mass. Under the terms of the agreement, the MKQC business will be split into two parts: the recording head and wafer development operations in the U.S.; and the slider fabrication and assembly operation in Batam, Indonesia. MKE will solely own and operate the Batam facility in support of its hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturing operations, with no interruption to work in progress in the Batam factory. MKE and Quantum will together explore possible alternatives for U.S.-based wafer development and associated operations located in Shrewsbury and Louisville, Colo., including making them available for sale. According to Michael A. Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Quantum, the losses in the MKQC business have become unsustainable for both Quantum and MKE. ''The current over-capacity in the recording heads industry and the lack of volume for the scale of the MKQC operation have been significant factors in the joint venture's inability to reach profitability,'' he said. ''Although MKQC management has made some notable operational improvements and even slowed the losses in the business, we do not expect to realize cost-effective production of head wafers in the near term. In today's challenging HDD industry environment, Quantum and MKE can more cost effectively design and build hard drives using a more flexible model of lower fixed costs, which allows us to buy head technology from multiple vendors.'' MKE president Mr. Sachihiko Hamaguchi said, ''During the past 15 years, we have grown our manufacturing partnership with Quantum to become the world's leading supplier of hard disk drives for desktop PCs. Both MKE and Quantum are committed to the long-term success of the partnership, and we believe that the move announced today will ensure the strength and competitiveness of our business model going forward.'' About MKE and Quantum Since 1983, MKE and Quantum have maintained a manufacturing partnership whereby MKE manufactures all of Quantum's high-end and desktop hard disk drives for servers, workstations and personal computers. The MKQC joint venture was formed in May 1997 to leverage Quantum's existing recording heads technology expertise and operations and MKE's manufacturing process expertise. About Quantum Founded in 1980, Quantum Corporation (www.quantum.com) is a diversified mass storage company with leadership positions in both fixed and removable storage markets. Quantum is the highest volume global supplier of hard disk drives for personal computers, a leading supplier of high capacity hard drives and the worldwide revenue leader among all classes of tape drives. The company sells a broad range of storage products to OEM and distribution customers worldwide. Quantum's sales for the fiscal year ending March 1998 were $5.8 billion. Note to Editors: Quantum and the Quantum logo are trademarks of Quantum Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact: Quantum Corporation Holly Campbell, 408/894-5058 (Public Relations) holly.campbell@quantum.com Renee Budig, 408/894-5563 (Investor Relations) renee.budig@quantum.com