HGST
 |
|
| Subsidiary of Western Digital | |
| Industry | Computer storage devices |
| Predecessor | Hitachi Global Storage Technologies |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California, United States |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
Mike Cordano (President) |
| Products |
Hard disk drives solid-state drives external storage devices |
|
Number of employees
|
45,000 |
| Parent |
Hitachi, Ltd. (2012–present) |
| Website | www |
Hitachi, Ltd.
(2003-2012)
HGST, Inc. (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital that sells hard disk drives, solid-state drives, and external storage products and services.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies was founded on January 6, 2003 as a merger of the hard disk drive businesses of IBM and Hitachi. Hitachi paid IBM US$2.05 billion for its HDD business.
On March 8, 2012, Western Digital (WD) acquired Hitachi Global Storage Technologies for $3.9 billion in cash and 25 million shares of WD common stock valued at approximately $0.9 billion. The deal resulted in Hitachi, Ltd. owning approximately 10 percent of WD shares outstanding, and reserving the right to designate two individuals to the board of directors of WD. It was agreed that WD would operate with WD Technologies and HGST as wholly owned subsidiaries and they would compete in the marketplace with separate brands and product lines.
In May 2012, WD divested to Toshiba assets that enabled Toshiba to manufacture and sell 3.5-inch hard drives for the desktop and consumer electronics markets to address the requirements of regulatory agencies.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Japan, Ltd. is the Japanese branch of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Inc.
In November 2013, the company announced a 6 TB capacity drive filled with helium. In September 2014, the company announced a 10 TB helium drive, which uses shingled magnetic recording to improve density.
On October 19, 2015, Western Digital Corporation announced a decision from China's Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") which enabled the company to integrate substantial portions of its HGST and WD subsidiaries under Western Digital Corporation ("Western Digital"), but they must offer both HGST and WD product brands in the market and maintain separate sales teams for two years from the date of the decision. As such, as of October 19, 2015, HGST is a Western Digital brand, and no longer a separate entity.
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Wikipedia