Hard drive maker Maxtor's losing streak continued into Q1 FY2005. For the three months to 2 April 2005, the company recorded revenue of $1.07bn, up 3.9 per cent from Q4 FY2004's $1.03bn and 4.9 per cent up on the year-ago quarter's $1.02bn.

Last time around, Maxtor posted a net income of $8.9m (three cents a share), rather better than the $24.2m (ten cents a share) loss it announced for Q1 FY2005. The latest figure includes another $4.9m toward the cost of abandoning its 2.5in notebook drive project, and $13.9m restructuring charges as it began its latest round of job cuts, heralded last quarter.

Maxtor shipped 14.2m hard drives in Q1, down from Q4 FY2004's 14.7m, though its average selling price rose $5 sequentially to $75. Gross margins rose from 8.1 per cent to 10.5 per cent. Of the Q1 shipments total, 13.4m were desktop units - 1.03m of them going into consumer electronics products. The company shipped 772,000 SCSI drives.

According to C S Park, Maxtor chairman and CEO, Q1's figures were better than expected. He is pleased with progress made toward returning Maxtor to profitability. ®

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