Hitachi's disk business is still losing money

HITACHI'S HARD DISK business reported an operating loss of more than $177 million in its most recent quarter.

While the losses weren't unexpected, the outfit managed to lose $26 million more than last quarter and will have to cut and slash through IBM's old disk-making business if it is to make and money in the future.

Further losses of $50 million to $60 million in the next quarter are described as “inevitable” by Tokyo-based industry analyst Masaya Yamasaki, of the Nomura Financial and Economic Research Center.

Despite the losses at the storage division and weaker than expected shipments at the display panel division, Hitachi reported overall operating profits of Yen 24.5 billion Yen (£102,330,580). However, a weaker yen contributed half of this, analysts say.

“In the HDD, flat-panel TV and other businesses where there are currently issues with profitability, Hitachi is implementing wide-ranging countermeasures to improve its development capabilities, cost competitiveness, and marketing activities and other areas of its operations,” Hitachi claimed in a statement.

The company should act quickly to address challenges in displays and storage, says Yamasaki: “We think an urgent response is needed because prices fall and technology changes quickly for these products.” µ