Chinese tech firm flirts with Seagate
Could Lenovo be muscling in on US-dominated HDD industry?
Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup/Recovery
Updated Rumours are circulating in the heady world of hard disk drives (HDDs) that a Chinese tech firm wants to buy Seagate Technology.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that an unnamed Chinese technology company, widely believed to be computer maker Lenovo, had approached Seagate, the world's number one manufacturer of HDDs.
It’s a worry for US authorities who, according to the Times, would see such a deal as a risk to national security by exposing high technology to China.
Seagate CEO William D. Watkins, who declined to name the firm at the centre of the rumours, reportedly said that "the U.S. government is freaking out."
He added that while Seagate, which dominates around 30 per cent of the worldwide HDD market share, was not looking for a buyer, if the price was high enough it would be difficult for shareholders to say no to such an offer.
Shares in the California-based firm are currently trading at $24.89 on the New York Stock Exchange. ®
Update
Seagate has this afternoon squashed rumours of an imminent buy-out from a leading Chinese tech firm.
According to Reuters, Seagate CEO Watkins had been simply discussing the growing interest in HDD technology from companies based in China, Japan and Korea, where working with respective governments, HDD storage had become "a national agenda."
In a statement, Seagate said: "Just to be clear, Seagate has not received such an offer, and we are not trying to sell the company."
COMMENTS
Hmmm
Dear Raheim Sherbedgia. Could it be that you are a troll?
buh?
I thought technology belonged to humanity, or at the very least the people who actually came up with it. How does that coexist with a statement of "high technology belongs to the US"? HT, as it is, knows no boundaries.
High technology does
belong to the US. Outside of minor advancements almost all high tech comes from American companies or their contractors. The US owns the Internet and most of the world's telecom and satellite infrastructure as well. In addition they are also the world leaders in the finance tech sector. Many of the tech advances (UK not included) from other countries are actually financed through the U.S. World or Ex-Im banks which underwrite R&D and manufacturing for a stake in the product.
For good or ill the U.S. is still the home of technological advancement. The PRC may overtake them one day but right now the PRC is just a big copy maching, replicating the work of the US.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
Data control in the cloud
Cloud based data management
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
