Even though Fujitsu and Western Digital (WD) were in negotiations for Fujitsu to sell its hard disk drive business to WD, the deal has reportedly fallen through.
The reported deal for the loss-making HDD business unit appeared to be done, but Fujitsu president Kuniaki Nozoe reportedly wanted both Japanese and foreign plans to be sold with all employees keeping their jobs.
As the global financial crisis began to hit IT companies harder, WD also has been forced to lay off some works, while also cutting costs and closing manufacturing plants. Nozoe’s request to not cut all workers simply cannot be done by WD right now.
Japanese media reports in October first discussed the deal, with the estimated value anywhere from $660M up to $994 million. The conversion rate between yen and dollars has drastically changed, and WD would have been forced to pay even more for the struggling business unit.
"We are exploring various possibilities for our HDD businesses," Fujitsu spokespeople said in October. Fujitsu didn’t announce what its plans will be for the HDD unit, but it will likely continue to look for interested buyers.
Fujitsu hopes to spin off at least one Japanese plant, and a plant in the Philippines and Thailand.
The Japanese company, in the fiscal year ending in March, lost $47 million in the current HDD market dominated by WD and Seagate.
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