Toshiba seeks to buy Fujitsu's HDD business

Toshiba might be looking to get an infusion of technology and assets in the HDD market, with an announcement recently that the company is pursuing an acquisition deal with Fujitsu. Still currently in the “talks” phase, Toshiba is dealing with Fujitsu to find a way to purchase their hard drive business, something that many investors see as a benefit to both companies. For many years, Fujitsu has been making a silent and slow exit from the market, whereas Toshiba has been looking to expand.

Even if Toshiba buys out Fujitsu's chunk of the market, it won't put them neck and neck with Seagate, currently the largest HDD manufacturer in the world. It would, however, give them a huge leap in the SSD market – putting them at number two, surpassed only by Samsung, as well as making them the largest manufacturer of 2.5” form factor drives. The latter is especially important, as SSD drives are primarily 2.5” and that form factor has become very attractive, with desktops, laptops and netbooks all making use of it. Especially as PC sales wane and notebook sales rise, this could put Toshiba in a very good position.