SmartDisk® Corporation External Hard Disk Drive and Digital Imaging Acquired
Verbatim®, foremost specialist in storage media, yesterday (5 July 2007) acquired SmartDisk® Corporation, a leading provider of storage products in the USA. Through the purchase of the external hard drive and digital imaging business of SmartDisk®, Verbatim strengthens its successful portfolio and offers its customers a better choice.
Verbatim, and its parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), announced the purchase of substantially all of the assets of SmartDisk® Corporation’s external hard drive (HD) and digital imaging business with effect from 30 June 2007. With annual revenues of US$44 million 2006. SmartDisk is a leading provider of portable, network and multimedia storage products and technologies headquartered in Ft. Myers, Florida, USA. The acquisition, which includes physical assets, patents, trademarks, technology, engineering and marketing expertise.
By combining its worldwide brand strength with its new assets, Verbatim will offer an expanded range of optical, magnetic and flash products that meet the diverse storage needs of consumers and businesses around the globe. In addition to acquiring SmartDisk technology and patents, Verbatim is hiring key engineering, operations, marketing and sales personnel to smooth the transition and assist with future business growth.
“The acquisition of SmartDisk’s external and portable hard drive assets is complementary to Verbatim’s existing business,” said Shigenori Otsuka, president of MKM. “Plans are already underway to leverage these assets and Verbatim’s heritage to extend quickly our global leadership in the removable storage and related accessories markets. Today’s consumers and business professionals need the full range of portable storage options – hard disk, optical and flash. Now, we can meet all of their storage requirements with a complete family of highly reliable, technically advanced solutions that are also cost-effective.”
The need for a fast, easy way to store, share and transport data files, presentations, photos, music and video is fuelling explosive growth in the worldwide removable storage industry. IDC predict more than six million external hard drives will be shipped in 2008, up 58 percent from the 3.8 million units shipped in 2006. The Verbatim brand is recognised worldwide for delivering data storage solutions with the latest technologies, the highest quality, and features that add value for the consumer.
For more information please visit Verbatim.
