I've been looking for a new place to have wheeled office chair races. If Seagate's execs are reading this, they should get in contact with me regarding the purchase of the Suzhou plant. I'm prepared to generously offer a roll of scotch tape (half the tape remains), a dozen chocolate chip cookies baked from scratch (no promises on freshness, I'm making them this weekend), and the cardboard tube from the inside of a paper towel roll in exchange. My only stipulation is that Seagate must leave any wheeled office chairs currently at the plant there as part of the exchange.
I will up this very generous bid if I can get 51% ownership rights by including all of my expired credit and membership cards, AS WELL AS both (count them! that's a whole 2) of my children.
I can toss in a couple of additional children if the offer isn't already sweet enough. They're relatively clean, come with accessories, and are litter box trained. That's four children for the price of one! Act now because supplies are limited and this offer won't last!
I live a few blocks from one of their largest production facilities, and it is very sad that they recently let go of quite a few employees. This may be selfish but at least this time it isn't the American worker getting the shaft.
If there is less to produce there is also less likely going into R&D, design, management, etc. Layoffs like this affect a company globally, not just at the factory. At the very least the logistics chain for that factory, likely managed from the US, is likely to lose their jobs.
We should never root for layoffs like this, nor should we underestimate the impact on the US of such jobs just because they are not located here.
At least initially the R&D/etc budgets shouldn't be hit much. The implosion of sales is still largely limited to the low end segment of the market which have very tiny margins. It's the 10/15k SAS drives and the high capacity 5400/7200 RPM 3.5" models that sell at margins high enough to generate the profit that funds R&D/etc.
I think the hard drive manufacturers ended up in a tough position and there was only so much they could have done about it. With SSDs the underlying technology was significantly different from HDDs. They basically found themselves in competition with the memory manufacturers, and a lot of these were pretty sizable companies which could go toe to toe with them. Seagate and WD probably should have tried to get on the SSD bandwagon sooner, but it's not clear the memory manufacturers had any intention of letting them in.
CRT manufacturing facilities went through the same slow death. Making LCD panels is just totally different than making cathode-ray tubes. The difference was cost. LCD panels hit 50% market share in 2006, and by 2012 the last CRT manufacturer in Europe had closed. This wasn't as much because LCDs could outperform CRTs as it was because LCDs were much lower cost. HDD is having a slower death because HDD is still cheaper than SSD. When that changes, HDD will be as dead as CRT, diminished to an insignificant niche market.
I suspect most of the equipment in the facility will end up being scrapped. Total drive production capacity's being cut by ~35%; the building being closed is ~30% of the space in buildings where they are doing drive production.
And if growth in platter counts doesn't counterbalance shrinking total numbers, we'll probably see a few more buildings closed since it's only ~10% of their manufacturing floor space.
So... this is pretty much SSDs eating into the small drive market right? What happens when the mythical 15+TB 3.5" SAS drives start shipping later this year? That's going to be hard to compete with...
Personally, I would like to just find some cheap 3TB drives again. I bought a bunch 2 years ago at $55-65 each, and now they all seem to be $85+. Rather annoyed that the price has gone up instead of down!
Prices that low for a 3.5" drive were probably excess inventory being dumped at a loss. HDD makers spent a few years in denial about SSDs starting to gut the consumer segment of their market and dragged their feet hard on reducing production to match the new reality.
Not really, because everybody is emulating Apple's "screw marketshare" pricing strategy these days: better to sell less units at a decent margin than selling a lot of units but barely breaking even on each.
Isn't it obvious? They've sold the facility to a Chinese company but, in the brave new world of Trump-driven China-hating, they're being as quiet as they possibly can about it. Regardless of the actual details, there's at least a 50% chance, if a Trumpeter hears about it, that Seagate will be shamed on national Twitter and accused of selling essential national secrets to foreigners. (One constant characteristic of the bully is to accuse everyone else of his own sins.)
This has ZERO to do with trump. SSD's are eating HDD low end. It's as simple as that. I am planning to swap out all the family's HDD's inside our PC's next year or later this year. HDD's still get all my external money (3 5TB drives at xmas, this year) but they are losing all the inside the PC money. It's happening in laptops too for better battery life and more reliability.
Aww, your candidate lost I guess...LOL. "The whole world is going to burn, we're all gonna die, Trump got elected"...ROFL. The bullies are all on twitter talking about shutting down or burning businesses for not wanting to bake a cake or pizza for a gay wedding...ROFL. I'm more worried about someone with a noh8 t-shirt than anything that comes out of Trumps mouth.
Nothing wrong with balancing trade & stopping currency manipulation (while they steal us blind BTW), but shouting death threats on twitter/facebook etc because someone won't bake a cake etc is stupid and dangerous. The most intolerant people are the one's shouting tolerance. ;)
Don't be sad though, we may actually get a balanced budget and an economy that grows more than 3% for the first time in 8yrs. Maybe this president won't spend more than ALL OTHER PRESIDENTS COMBINED (10trillion in 8yrs) that came before him. Who knows how to run a business more? A lifetime politician who has never ran anything (aside from running for office for decades), worse a community organizer, or a BILLIONAIRE businessman who has proven time and again he knows how to make profits and good deals? 500 businesses and 4 bankrupt ones. I'll take that batting avg everyday. If he really dumps on regulations and drops taxes I'll be willing to risk re-opening my business (and I'm not alone). That wasn't even a thought process for me during the last decade. Now I'm making plans...LOL. We were losing small businesses faster than creating them, but I think that's about to change. That is good no matter who you voted for in USA.
More Trump BS. I'm not in the USA (thank ****) but the deluded, uneducated idiots that (sort of) elected a perverted clown (who managed to lose a fortune despite inheriting one) are a laughing stock to the rest of the world (which of course doesn't really exist in the 'minds' of many of you).
You may find the joke backfiring in the coming months; it will be a hoot to watch...
I'm also not from the USA and I would have to agree with @TheJian. Clearly you are brainwashed by your country's mass media that undoubtedly reports everything the American mainstream media says about Trump without taking a closer look into things.
Apparently you missed the budget resolution that just passed where it'll add $9 trillion to the debt over the next decade, masked by the GOP's "repeal Obamacare" rhetoric. It worked and the house passed the most massive budget in U.S. history. Whether you are a republican or democrat, I think we can all agree that the budget deficit is getting out of hand.
Also, I'm sorry for Seagate, but let's hope that it helps them in the long term and figure out a way to grow their company past mechanical hard drives.
Guess who is number one to look out for in a sole proprietorship? The staff (voters)? LOL, they are there to be worked for as low a cost as you can get The shareholders? Who is a shareholder in a sole proprietorship? LOL
Opportunity: Hey, there's this chance here that you can make your workforce work at double the hours, reduce operating costs by half and get triple your gross profit. Wanna do it?
Businessman to a naive person: Oh no, i can't very well make my staff work at the equivalent of half their wages just so i can make triple my yearly profits!
Businessman in real life: F*** yeah, sign me up. Those morons better be glad i'm giving them a job in the first place! F***, can i sell my staff's bodies after they die for military tests!? Aren't i creative?
It's funny looking back at this. Things were really going well till the china virus was released. Wannabe Tyrants have been exposed all over, especially here in PA with our diktator gov wolfie.
Chinese entities mostly backed by local administrations own the majority of everything in China. The rule is 51% at least for Chinese in China. So, Seagate is closing its share of a joint venture, which was so far eroding its pricing. That's Seagate and every large corporation strategy btw - buyout and shut down competitors. Seagate is shutting down Maxtor, it did take them awhile, probably due to very restrictive arrangements for approval on the original acquisition of Maxtor's assets in China a decade ago.
Seagate and all of the American companies should move back to the US!!! Donald Trump is going to be the president of the United States on Friday!!! Tax 35%!!!!! Would be nice to see Seagate Made In USA!!!! Not right now.... Made In Thailand.... And so on....
I just bought another Seagate external HDD again, the 2nd in a a few months. It was also the cheapest I bought since before the flood, maybe 2-4 € premium. Before these two drives I had mostly bought WD and Toshiba drives, and one SDHD from Seagate.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
44 Comments
Back to Article
BrokenCrayons - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
I've been looking for a new place to have wheeled office chair races. If Seagate's execs are reading this, they should get in contact with me regarding the purchase of the Suzhou plant. I'm prepared to generously offer a roll of scotch tape (half the tape remains), a dozen chocolate chip cookies baked from scratch (no promises on freshness, I'm making them this weekend), and the cardboard tube from the inside of a paper towel roll in exchange. My only stipulation is that Seagate must leave any wheeled office chairs currently at the plant there as part of the exchange.CaedenV - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
I will up this very generous bid if I can get 51% ownership rights by including all of my expired credit and membership cards, AS WELL AS both (count them! that's a whole 2) of my children.Seagate can contact us at 1-234-567-8901
BrokenCrayons - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
I can toss in a couple of additional children if the offer isn't already sweet enough. They're relatively clean, come with accessories, and are litter box trained. That's four children for the price of one! Act now because supplies are limited and this offer won't last!Lolimaster - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
I already won, no company can resiste the power of 2 elf slaves, female elves doing what they do best.nemoshotyany - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
Giving out the presidential treatment? Who could turn down a good splash partyfanofanand - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
I live a few blocks from one of their largest production facilities, and it is very sad that they recently let go of quite a few employees. This may be selfish but at least this time it isn't the American worker getting the shaft.TechnologyPerson - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
Human beings are getting the shaft.BrokenCrayons - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
Some humans really, really, REALLY like getting the shaft...repeatedly.TechnologyPerson - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
Huh?eldakka - Monday, January 16, 2017 - link
And some like being the shafter.Michael Bay - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
OYYYY VEEEEEYYYReflex - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
If there is less to produce there is also less likely going into R&D, design, management, etc. Layoffs like this affect a company globally, not just at the factory. At the very least the logistics chain for that factory, likely managed from the US, is likely to lose their jobs.We should never root for layoffs like this, nor should we underestimate the impact on the US of such jobs just because they are not located here.
DanNeely - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
At least initially the R&D/etc budgets shouldn't be hit much. The implosion of sales is still largely limited to the low end segment of the market which have very tiny margins. It's the 10/15k SAS drives and the high capacity 5400/7200 RPM 3.5" models that sell at margins high enough to generate the profit that funds R&D/etc.zodiacfml - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
Who would like layoffs? It is Seagate's refusal to accept a huge change in the storage market. They either were complacent or playing it too safe.Their enterprise drives will soon get a hit soon as they will be more power hungry and less dense than SSD's in the years to come.
They will live on, drastically smaller though, as HDDs will continue as good drives to save a ton of data that needs to be accessed in a few seconds.
Nagorak - Sunday, January 15, 2017 - link
I think the hard drive manufacturers ended up in a tough position and there was only so much they could have done about it. With SSDs the underlying technology was significantly different from HDDs. They basically found themselves in competition with the memory manufacturers, and a lot of these were pretty sizable companies which could go toe to toe with them. Seagate and WD probably should have tried to get on the SSD bandwagon sooner, but it's not clear the memory manufacturers had any intention of letting them in.Jaybus - Saturday, January 21, 2017 - link
CRT manufacturing facilities went through the same slow death. Making LCD panels is just totally different than making cathode-ray tubes. The difference was cost. LCD panels hit 50% market share in 2006, and by 2012 the last CRT manufacturer in Europe had closed. This wasn't as much because LCDs could outperform CRTs as it was because LCDs were much lower cost. HDD is having a slower death because HDD is still cheaper than SSD. When that changes, HDD will be as dead as CRT, diminished to an insignificant niche market.Lolimaster - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
Things is: Where the hell are the HARM HDD's?They should've been on shelves 1 year ago. 15-20TB right now, with 30TB next year.
DanNeely - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
They turned out to be a lot harder to make than people thought when ever the out in 2016 estimate came from.DanNeely - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
I suspect most of the equipment in the facility will end up being scrapped. Total drive production capacity's being cut by ~35%; the building being closed is ~30% of the space in buildings where they are doing drive production.And if growth in platter counts doesn't counterbalance shrinking total numbers, we'll probably see a few more buildings closed since it's only ~10% of their manufacturing floor space.
bigboxes - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
I don't read much into this. It's a large company that is cutting costs and becoming more efficient. No big deal.Nagorak - Sunday, January 15, 2017 - link
Don't delude yourself, it's a company with an eroding market. Yeah, it's cutting, but only because it has to.baka_toroi - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
The last HDD factory will close in 2028. I'm placing my bet.Michael Bay - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
Seagate or in the world?CaedenV - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
So... this is pretty much SSDs eating into the small drive market right?What happens when the mythical 15+TB 3.5" SAS drives start shipping later this year? That's going to be hard to compete with...
Personally, I would like to just find some cheap 3TB drives again. I bought a bunch 2 years ago at $55-65 each, and now they all seem to be $85+. Rather annoyed that the price has gone up instead of down!
DanNeely - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
Prices that low for a 3.5" drive were probably excess inventory being dumped at a loss. HDD makers spent a few years in denial about SSDs starting to gut the consumer segment of their market and dragged their feet hard on reducing production to match the new reality.StrangerGuy - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
Not really, because everybody is emulating Apple's "screw marketshare" pricing strategy these days: better to sell less units at a decent margin than selling a lot of units but barely breaking even on each.HomeworldFound - Friday, January 13, 2017 - link
If there's one company that shouldn't be cutting costs, it's Seagate.ImSpartacus - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
I love the detailed table about Seagate's production facilities. Very cool!name99 - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
Isn't it obvious?They've sold the facility to a Chinese company but, in the brave new world of Trump-driven China-hating, they're being as quiet as they possibly can about it.
Regardless of the actual details, there's at least a 50% chance, if a Trumpeter hears about it, that Seagate will be shamed on national Twitter and accused of selling essential national secrets to foreigners. (One constant characteristic of the bully is to accuse everyone else of his own sins.)
TheJian - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
This has ZERO to do with trump. SSD's are eating HDD low end. It's as simple as that. I am planning to swap out all the family's HDD's inside our PC's next year or later this year. HDD's still get all my external money (3 5TB drives at xmas, this year) but they are losing all the inside the PC money. It's happening in laptops too for better battery life and more reliability.Aww, your candidate lost I guess...LOL. "The whole world is going to burn, we're all gonna die, Trump got elected"...ROFL. The bullies are all on twitter talking about shutting down or burning businesses for not wanting to bake a cake or pizza for a gay wedding...ROFL. I'm more worried about someone with a noh8 t-shirt than anything that comes out of Trumps mouth.
Nothing wrong with balancing trade & stopping currency manipulation (while they steal us blind BTW), but shouting death threats on twitter/facebook etc because someone won't bake a cake etc is stupid and dangerous. The most intolerant people are the one's shouting tolerance. ;)
Don't be sad though, we may actually get a balanced budget and an economy that grows more than 3% for the first time in 8yrs. Maybe this president won't spend more than ALL OTHER PRESIDENTS COMBINED (10trillion in 8yrs) that came before him. Who knows how to run a business more? A lifetime politician who has never ran anything (aside from running for office for decades), worse a community organizer, or a BILLIONAIRE businessman who has proven time and again he knows how to make profits and good deals? 500 businesses and 4 bankrupt ones. I'll take that batting avg everyday. If he really dumps on regulations and drops taxes I'll be willing to risk re-opening my business (and I'm not alone). That wasn't even a thought process for me during the last decade. Now I'm making plans...LOL. We were losing small businesses faster than creating them, but I think that's about to change. That is good no matter who you voted for in USA.
TesseractOrion - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
More Trump BS. I'm not in the USA (thank ****) but the deluded, uneducated idiots that (sort of) elected a perverted clown (who managed to lose a fortune despite inheriting one) are a laughing stock to the rest of the world (which of course doesn't really exist in the 'minds' of many of you).You may find the joke backfiring in the coming months; it will be a hoot to watch...
vladx - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
I'm also not from the USA and I would have to agree with @TheJian. Clearly you are brainwashed by your country's mass media that undoubtedly reports everything the American mainstream media says about Trump without taking a closer look into things.Michael Bay - Sunday, January 15, 2017 - link
Spoken like a true nose slave.ahamling27 - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
Apparently you missed the budget resolution that just passed where it'll add $9 trillion to the debt over the next decade, masked by the GOP's "repeal Obamacare" rhetoric. It worked and the house passed the most massive budget in U.S. history. Whether you are a republican or democrat, I think we can all agree that the budget deficit is getting out of hand.Also, I'm sorry for Seagate, but let's hope that it helps them in the long term and figure out a way to grow their company past mechanical hard drives.
UseYourBrainThanks - Monday, January 16, 2017 - link
smh. A business man != non profit origanizationGuess who is number one to look out for in a sole proprietorship?
The staff (voters)? LOL, they are there to be worked for as low a cost as you can get
The shareholders? Who is a shareholder in a sole proprietorship? LOL
Opportunity: Hey, there's this chance here that you can make your workforce work at double the hours, reduce operating costs by half and get triple your gross profit. Wanna do it?
Businessman to a naive person: Oh no, i can't very well make my staff work at the equivalent of half their wages just so i can make triple my yearly profits!
Businessman in real life: F*** yeah, sign me up. Those morons better be glad i'm giving them a job in the first place! F***, can i sell my staff's bodies after they die for military tests!? Aren't i creative?
Fred4 - Friday, April 1, 2022 - link
It's funny looking back at this. Things were really going well till the china virus was released. Wannabe Tyrants have been exposed all over, especially here in PA with our diktator gov wolfie.Fred4 - Friday, April 1, 2022 - link
The weakness exposed in our supply chains all being dependent on a regime that wants to take over the world is now seen in frightening reality.Michael Bay - Sunday, January 15, 2017 - link
Chink love is a truly cuck perversion.RanDum72 - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link
Does anybody really OWN anything in China?sonny73n - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
"Does anybody really OWN anything in China?"What are you trying to imply? Have you ever been in China?
Go back to CNN or Fox News! Stop trying to spread fake news here.
Ananke - Wednesday, January 18, 2017 - link
Chinese entities mostly backed by local administrations own the majority of everything in China. The rule is 51% at least for Chinese in China. So, Seagate is closing its share of a joint venture, which was so far eroding its pricing. That's Seagate and every large corporation strategy btw - buyout and shut down competitors. Seagate is shutting down Maxtor, it did take them awhile, probably due to very restrictive arrangements for approval on the original acquisition of Maxtor's assets in China a decade ago.salimbest83 - Sunday, January 15, 2017 - link
its Penang Plant already closing in.the last worker in there is around july or sept 2017
( im doing plant visit November last year )
puipuki67 - Tuesday, January 17, 2017 - link
Seagate and all of the American companies should move back to the US!!! Donald Trump is going to be the president of the United States on Friday!!! Tax 35%!!!!! Would be nice to see Seagate Made In USA!!!! Not right now.... Made In Thailand.... And so on....Ariknowsbest - Thursday, January 19, 2017 - link
I just bought another Seagate external HDD again, the 2nd in a a few months. It was also the cheapest I bought since before the flood, maybe 2-4 € premium.Before these two drives I had mostly bought WD and Toshiba drives, and one SDHD from Seagate.