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Hitachi opens new centre in Shenzhen
By Zheng Lifei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-17 08:31
SHENZHEN: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, a world leader in storage
technology, unveiled a new mega-manufacturing centre in China yesterday, a move
that is expected to strengthen its position in the global hard disk drive (HDD)
market.
The new production facility, based in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong
Province, is the first phase of the storage giant's US$500 million investment
for projects in China.
Hitachi's new centre, called Hitachi Global Storage Products (Shenzhen) Co
Ltd, places the entire supply chain of HDD production in a central location, a
concept that is designed to achieve greater production efficiency and control
costs.
"It is a significant milestone for us, a milestone that allows Hitachi to
focus on meeting market and customer needs expeditiously," said Hiroaki
Nakanishi, chief executive officer of Hitachi Global Storage Technology, at the
opening ceremony yesterday.
"Creating end-to-end production capability in a single region is an
innovative approach to drive localized sourcing and to shorten lead times,
reduce transportation expenses and will enable us to respond quickly to market
needs," said Dirk Thomas, president of Greater China, Hitachi Global Storage
Technologies.
The new facility, which has cost US$100 million so far, will initially
produce 3.5-inch hard disk drivers and will be capable of assembling HDDs in
varying segments, an arrangement that company CEO Hiroaki Nakanishi said would
give Hitachi "flexibility" to meet the market needs.
The increased capacity from the new production centre will help Hitachi to
increase its market share in the Chinese HDD market, which is booming along with
its surging economy.
"Due to supply constraint, (our) market share (in China) is not sufficient
for us in the past years," Nakanishi said.
"We are very much encouraged to invest to increase our output to meet the
demands in China," he said, noting the new Shenzhen facility will hopefully
alleviate the "supply constraint" the company suffered before.
(China Daily 02/17/2006 page10)
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