Western Digital has announced a very surprising and monstrous deal to acquire on of its primary competitors, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Irony, few years back Hitachi actually bought up a factory that Western Digital deemed unworthy during the economy crisis. Western Digital is currently ranked number 1 in sales of hard disk worldwide after taking over Seagate, and Hitachi is ranked number 3.

Under the deal, which is a mix of $3.5 billion in cash and $750 million in WD common stock, the two will combine in a way that sees the Western Digital brand and headquarters surviving, while Steve Milligan, president and chief executive officer of Hitachi GST, will join WD at closing as president. It’s said to see a good brand like Hitachi gone missing in the HDD market, much like Maxtor when Seagate swallowed up Maxtor back in 2005 for some $2 billion.

I know of a few people that’ll feel awkward, transitioning from under Western Digital to Hitachi and back again to Western Digital in a factory. Hopefully no retrenchment will occur. Now the only competitor left is Seagate, or probably the other SSD manufacturers.

SOURCE via CNET