Alliance boosts small-form-factor drive production

A Toshiba Europe Storage Device Division product story

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Jan 23, 2003

Toshiba and Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries (MKE) are to collaborate in the production of 1.8 and 2.5in hard disk drives.

Toshiba and Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries (MKE) are to collaborate in the production of 1.8 and 2.5in hard disk drives.

Under the terms of the agreement, MKE will manufacture HDDs for Toshiba at its Indonesian subsidiary, PT Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Peripherals Indonesia.

Production of 1.8in HDDs will start in April 2003, with production of 2.5in HDDs scheduled to start in the latter half of the year.

The demand for small-form-factor HDDs has been increasing steadily due to the popularity of portable PCs, car navigation systems and mobile AV products, all of which demand high capacity storage in a compact design.

Worldwide shipments of HDDs reached 29 million units in 2001 and 35 million in 2002.

Toshiba forecasts that demand for these products will continue to grow to 43 million in 2003.

Toshiba has been concentrating its resources for HDD development and production on small-form-factor models, including original development of 1.8in models.

In order to meet further growth in demand, the company has now entered into an agreement with MKE that will strengthen its small-form-factor HDD business.

MKE will manufacture HDDs and provide Toshiba with products that are made with MKE's sophisticated production technology and high-quality manufacturing expertise.

All manufactured products will be sold under the Toshiba brand, and in the future Toshiba and MKE will work together to continually improve the design and manufacturing process of small-form-factor HDDs.