Fujitsu is even using the U4. Does this mean that their drive division won't enter that segment?
Seagate U4 Disc Drive Gaining Broad Acceptance at Major PC OEMs For
Commercial and Consumer Applications
Industry-Leading Reliability, Excellent Performance and Compelling Value Enable Customers to Target Growth Markets
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Seagate Technology, Inc. (NYSE: SEG - news)
today announced that top PC makers including Fujitsu, Emachines and other market leaders are
employing Seagate's new U4 disc drive to target the growing sub-$1,000 PC and consumer appliance
markets. U4 is Seagate's second generation of drives uniquely designed for these segments, and eleven of
the world's leading computer makers have qualified, or are completing qualification of the drive. The
rapid acceptance of the U4 underscores the high demand for storage solutions that address these
markets, which International Data Corp. (IDC) estimates will total nearly 38 million units by 2001.
The U4 drive provides the industry's best reliability plus the capacity and performance needed for
applications like video and audio streaming, Internet navigation, multimedia, email and word processing.
''Seagate's U4 is designed to support our goal to provide PCs for a full spectrum of uses including
entertainment, education and home working, with powerful specifications at low price points,'' said Mr.
Ove Eriksson, Director of Purchasing, Storage Devices (Europe) at Fujitsu Computers Ltd. ''Fujitsu
develops technology to meet the needs of real people in a real world, catering to everyone from large
corporations, to small to medium sized enterprises and home users. Our product range reflects these
diverse needs. The changing face of the PC marketplace requires a broader range of new Fujitsu PCs,
and new solutions like Seagate's U4 help enable this.''
eMachines, Inc., has chosen Seagate's U4 for its sub-$600 eTower computers. eMachines has become
the fastest growing supplier of personal computers in history, last month achieving the number four
market share position in US retail desktop PC sales, according to PC Data. PC Computing awarded four
stars to the $399 eMachines eTower 300c and called it ''a full-featured multimedia system ... lots of
extras at an astonishing price.''
''With our focus on delivering a new level of PC affordability, outstanding product quality, and mass
retail distribution, the U4 disc drive and Seagate's renowned customer support play an important role in
supporting our business strategy for opening up the market to new computer users,'' stated Stephen A.
Dukker, President and CEO of eMachines, Inc. ''Seagate's superior product reliability has undoubtedly
contributed to eMachines' dramatically low return rate, less than half the industry average.''
Gobi Inc., has launched a national consumer technology service that provides home subscribers with a
powerful Intel Celeron PC and unlimited Internet access for about the price of basic cable TV service,
eliminating the need to buy expensive hardware up front or have technical expertise to go online. The
company is now shipping the first of over 1,000,000 computers it expects to provide this year.
''Gobi's primary goal is to provide our customers with the best overall value in terms of our PC and our
Internet services,'' said Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Gobi CEO. ''Our platform certainly had to be cost
effective, but at the same time we couldn't give anything up in terms of performance or quality. To that
end, the U4 family of hard disc drives from Seagate is the perfect choice for Gobi systems. Seagate is
ahead of their competition by recognizing the cost constraints in the value segment, and designing a drive
from the ground up that would fit that space. However, the specs of the drive are extremely competitive
with drives targeted at higher end markets. The Seagate U4 family allows us to move up in drive capacity
points, along with the industry, and not sacrifice the compatibility, quality and reliability that we originally
designed into the Gobi system.''
PC maker Pionex specializes in systems that come fully configured and ready to run right out of the box.
Available at over 600 retail locations, Pionex systems incorporate the latest advances and are uniquely
designed for unparalleled upgradeability. ''We are pleased that Pionex can continue to offer the brand
components that they find in other top tier machines,'' stated Steve Smith, vice president, Pionex Retail
Products Group.
''The adoption of the U4 by leading PC makers, and its broad acceptance for a variety of new
applications is an endorsement of Seagate's unique capabilities to address this market. Ownership of key
technologies and manufacturing resources enable Seagate to deliver diverse solutions to our customers,
and to consumers, when where and how they want them,'' said Brian Dexheimer, senior vice president of
Desktop Marketing and PLM for Seagate.
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 information when, where and how they want it. Seagate is the world's largest manufacturer of
disc drives, magnetic discs and read-write heads, an innovator in tape drives and a leading developer of
Enterprise Information Management software. Seagate can be found around the globe and at
seagate.com. For automated news, stock and financial information by phone, dial toll-free
877-SEG-NYSE. Outside the U.S. and Canada, dial 760-704-4368.
NOTE: Seagate and Seagate Technology are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology, Inc. U4,
SeaShield and DiscWizard are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology, Inc. or
one of its subsidiaries. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
This release contains forward-looking statements relating to shipment and delivery of the U4 platforms
and the Ultra ATA/66 interface. 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, but are not limited to,
the ability of the Company to successfully develop and market the U4 platform and the Ultra ATA/66
interface. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events
or circumstances after the date thereof.
SOURCE: Seagate Technology, Inc. |
