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Technology Stocks : Seagate Technology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Robert Douglas who wrote (6764)	1/29/1999 1:38:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7841

Seagate to Make New Disk Drive for Sub-$1,000 PCs in Singapore Bloomberg News January 29, 1999, 6:21 a.m. PT Seagate to Make New Disk Drive for Sub-$1,000 PCs in Singapore Singapore, Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Seagate Technology Inc., the No. 1 independent computer disk-drive maker, said it'll make large numbers of its new disk drive for the sub-$1,000 personal computer market at its Singapore plant, starting this quarter. The second-generation desktop disk drive, called ''U4,'' will have a capacity of 4.3 gigabytes and 5,400 rpm, the company said. Making U4 will also raise production out of Singapore, a key Seagate manufacturing center. The new offering could help Seagate regain market share for its low-end disk drives which lag behind its high-end products that dominate the industry. ''For Seagate, there's a good chance our desktop (low-end disk drive) actually grows quicker because our product positioning in the desktop is improving,'' said Stephen Luczo, Seagate's president and chief executive, who spoke at the Singapore plant. Luczo's also optimistic about the company's turnaround as steep competition and severe price cuts led to losses. Its biggest rivals include International Business Machines Corp. and Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. ''We think we're back and we think we'll take a lot of that share back,'' he said. ''The good news is most customers -- if they have a choice -- will rather buy from Seagate because we don't compete against them . . . both IBM and Fujitsu have big storage businesses in addition to their disk drive business.'' Singapore Plant Luczo's comments also were an assurance that jobs of Seagate's Singapore workers are secure for now. Facing its first recession in 13 years, manufacturers in Singapore have fired workers to cut costs. For example, Western Digital Corp., the third-largest independent disk-drive maker, closed a plant in the island last week and may fire 800 employees. For Seagate, Asia brings in 15 percent of total revenue. It has invested more than $1.5 billion in Singapore, including its only product design center outside the U.S. Its output accounts for about 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, estimate analysts. ''The business looks like it's going to grow,'' Luczo said. ''It certainly seems like the economic conditions have stabilized over the last six months.'' Luczo also said he met with Philip Yeo, chairman of Singapore's Economic Development Board two months ago in Scotts Valley, California, where Seagate's based, on plans to strengthen Seagate's presence in Singapore. Two weeks ago, Seagate said it had fiscal second-quarter profit of $104 million, or 42 cents a share, beating expectations as it benefited from cutting costs and a surge in personal computers sales.