In an interview with BusinessWeek, Seagate CEO William Watkins has
revealed that his company is prepping 1.8″ hard drives with 60GB and
120GB capacities for the fourth quarter. The relevant portion of the
interview is as follows:
We have a whole new product refresh coming up that drops our cost
structure quite significantly that will allow us to be highly
competitive. And we have this new opportunity in 1.8-inch drives, which
is starting to grow for handheld video. Apple’s (AAPL) iPod is one, but
there are a lot of people putting out handheld video devices. We did not
have a drive for that business that will come in capacities of 60 and
120 GB, and so we will have one in the December quarter and we think
that will be a nice little driver for us. We feel a whole lot better
about things than Wall Street does right now.
This statement looks like less than subtle hint that Seagate might end
up providing 120GB hard drives for a potential iPod line refresh.
Watkins also talks down flash storage, saying he told
Samsung, Toshiba, and Hitachi, “If you believe in flash so much, then
sell me your hard-drive business”—none of them agreed, he says.
Thanks to Engadget
for the tip.
