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Western digital to acquire Hitachi

BrianLachoreVPI


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WD, Hitachi combo leapfrogs Seagate
Western Digital has announced plans to acquire Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in a deal that could make it the world's largest hard disk drive maker, leapfrogging longtime giant Seagate Technology.


The merger marks the next major step in a slow consolidation of the disk drive industry

Also interesting is
Drive makers increasingly need heft to survive in a computer industry long known for razor thin margins, now shifting away from HDD-based PCs
and if you follow the link embedded in that paragraph it leads to an article discussing the iPad and Steve Job's "Post PC" speech. You have to imagine that the growing popularity of SSDs will put further strain on this industry as well.




I thought this was interesting given the number of "which HDD is best" threads we see here and the stated affinities that usually get posted. Any thoughts on what this might do to Hitachi's quality control - which as I understand it from reading on this forum used to be well thought of - hit a period of questionable quality control - but seems to be back up where it should be again. I've seen some who swear by Hitachi and have nothing good to say about WD and vice versa.
 

cwa107


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I thought this was interesting given the number of "which HDD is best" threads we see here and the stated affinities that usually get posted. Any thoughts on what this might do to Hitachi's quality control - which as I understand it from reading on this forum used to be well thought of - hit a period of questionable quality control - but seems to be back up where it should be again.

I was pretty stunned by this as well. I remember a time when there were dozens of different manufacturers, a 5 year warranty was standard across the board - and the cost of a hard drive could easily equal the value of your PC. My how times have changed.

I'll be interested to see how WD/HGST evolve their limited SSD business in the wake of dozens of new manufacturers jumping into the fray. I'd imagine that eventually as the technologies mature and the costs go down, we'll see the same kind of consolidation in that industry.

Hopefully Seagate will be smart enough to once again do something to distinguish themselves (their most recent success was had when they extended a 5 year warranty to all of their drives, only to rescind it once they regained market share). I might even be tempted to buy their drives again if they promise to fire their firmware engineers and staff the department with some competent folks.
 
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Interesting news indeed. Thanks.
 
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I hope this doesn't cause the prices to increase.
 
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Of the problems I'm having with Hitachi hard drives (such as the one on my MacBook), I'm crossing my fingers that WD improves the quality.
 

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Of the problems I'm having with Hitachi hard drives (such as the one on my MacBook), I'm crossing my fingers that WD improves the quality.

What kinds of problems are you having?
 
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Of the problems I'm having with Hitachi hard drives (such as the one on my MacBook), I'm crossing my fingers that WD improves the quality.

Apple installed a bad batch of OEM Hitachi hard drives in MacBooks from 2006 to 2007. Apple had an extended warranty on those MacBooks. Unfortunately that extended warranty ended last month:
Apple cops to defective MacBook drives ? The Register
Apple - Support - MacBook Repair Extension Program for Hard Drive Issues - Completed

Consumer Hitachi drives the past few years have been excellent. They have been the drive that I recommend the most. I now fear that their manufacture will be outsourced like other WD drives and the quality and reliability will drop off.

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chscag

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Consumer Hitachi drives the past few years have been excellent.

I'm glad to see you used the qualifier "the past few years" because many of us who have been in the computer repair field remember the infamous "Death Star" drives that Hitachi made for IBM. I have avoided using their drives ever since.
 

cwa107


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I'm glad to see you used the qualifier "the past few years" because many of us who have been in the computer repair field remember the infamous "Death Star" drives that Hitachi made for IBM. I have avoided using their drives ever since.

Yeah, I've pulled quite a few of those myself. But I can say that my more recent dealings with Hitachi drives have been very positive. I've also noticed that commenters on NewEgg rarely mention receiving DOA drives, but there are always quite a few surrounding WD and Seagate.
 
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But I can say that my more recent dealings with Hitachi drives have been very positive. I've also noticed that commenters on NewEgg rarely mention receiving DOA drives, but there are always quite a few surrounding WD and Seagate.

And there's the problem...with industry consolidation, if Hitachi's quality control goes downhill, I'm not sure what brand of hard drive to depend on.

I also worry that when competition dries up that drive prices might skyrocket.

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Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
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OP
BrianLachoreVPI

BrianLachoreVPI


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Some very good commentary here. I tend to be with CWA - I don't think this will drive price up. I think this is a result of (as the article indicated) an incredibly competitive market - and consolidation 'may' help the companies remain relevant while staying cost competitive. Economies of scale are important to keeping cost down and individually - their buying power has probably been reduced and projected to continue in that fashion. I do worry about quality control however, as that tends to be one of the first aspects to suffer as part of cost cutting, and I don't see consolidation like this as being favorable in that respect.

The HDD manufacturers probably see the writing on the wall - much of their market is being eroded by SSD manufacturers - an erosion that is likely to accelerate as SSD technology matures - assuming costs come down sufficiently. That's not to say there won't be a role for magnetic media - but the market will have significantly shrunk.
 
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I think it will mean the opposite to be honest.

Do you really think so Kevriano and others?

History shows monopolies generally make things dearer for the consumer with more profits to the shareholder!
 
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Maybe Harry, but I'm of the opinion that these kind of mergers clearly streamline companies, so they can cut costs and still make bigger profits.
Not to say that they will of course. As has been said, I hope that they don't compromise the quality of the Hitachi drives.
As for other reliable brands I have been more than happy with Toshiba, Iomega, Seagate and Lacie drives, so I think there's plenty to recommend still.
 
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with SSDs still being at well over $1 per GB compared to HDD being like 7 cents per GB I dont expect SSDs to be taking over any time soon.

I suggest we complain about a Monopoly and get them to give a temporary sale.
 

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