Seagate set for Asian growth<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Reuter): Asia is a booming region for the computer
\nindustry, and Seagate Technology Inc president and chief
\nexecutive Alan Shugart said yesterday he has high hopes for
\ncontinued strong growth in the region in the coming years.<\/p>\n
\"In five to 10 years from now, I think the Asia-Pacific region
\nwill be about 30 percent of our revenues,\" Shugart said. \"It's
\nreally the fastest growing part of our market.\"<\/p>\n
In the second quarter of the year the region accounted for
\nabout 16 percent of U.S.-based Seagate's US$2.4 billion revenues,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
While the European market has leveled off, and there is only
\nslight growth in North and South America, Seagate hopes to
\nbenefit from growing prosperity in Asia.<\/p>\n
The company has also set itself a lofty goal of increasing its
\nglobal revenues to $19.5 billion by the year 2001.<\/p>\n
\"I call it the Seagate Odyssey,\" said Shugart, one of the five
\nfounders of the company. \"My goal for the company for the year
\n2001 is to have revenues of $19.5 billion.\"<\/p>\n
Seagate, the world's largest independent disk drive maker, had
\n$8.6 billion in revenues in the year ending June 28, 1996. For
\nthe first half of the 1996 fiscal year to December 27, it
\nreported net sales of $4.46 billion.<\/p>\n
Shugart would not project earnings for the company, saying
\nonly that \"business was good\" in the current quarter and he
\nexpected the computer industry to stay strong this year.<\/p>\n
\"It looks to me like the computer industry should be strong
\nfor the whole calendar year,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the second quarter of the year Seagate continued to operate
\non allocation, with demand greater than supply, Shugart said.<\/p>\n
The company reported a profit of $1.36 per share or $341.96
\nmillion for the first six months of the year, up from $1.14 a
\nshare or $269.72 million the same period last year.<\/p>\n
Seagate has a large production operation in the Asia-Pacific
\nregion, focused mainly in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
The 19-year old company is the largest private employer in
\nThailand, Singapore and Malaysia with a total of 79,000 employees
\nin the three countries. The company also has operations in
\nIndonesia, the Philippines and China.<\/p>\n
In Thailand alone it expects to expand to 50,000 employees by
\nthe end of the century from 37,000 currently. Seagate says it has
\nbeen the number one exporter from Thailand since 1991,
\nrepresenting about 3.5 percent of the country's total exports.<\/p>\n
Seagate just announced a plan to invest $70 million to expand
\nits computer disk drive recording head manufacturing facility in
\nthe Philippines.<\/p>\n
Shugart, who is in Thailand to officially open the company's
\nsixth plant -- a state-of-the art magnetic recording head plant
\n-- said he plans to continue to expand throughout the world.<\/p>\n
He would not say which country he has targeted next, but said
\nhe plans to keep growing the company.<\/p>\n
\"In the past 17 years we have produced 100 million disk
\ndrives. We think we'll produce the next 100 million in three
\nyears,\" he said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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