The company revealed in a statement that the new 35,000-square meter facility is expected to be in operation by the fourth quarter of 2005. Responsible for producing 3.5-inch disk drives and eventually drives of varying forms, the manufacturing center will generate 7,000 new jobs.
In addition, Hitachi has set aside another US$300 million to further boost its drive manufacturing capacity in China. The timetable for this investment will depend on market conditions, a spokesperson told CNETAsia.
Hitachi's push comes in spite of indifferent times for the hard drive industry. In May, industry analysts predicted that the industry is one with bleak profits prospects, due to competitive pricing amongst disk makers.
In the same announcement, the storage company named Dirk Thomas as Hitachi's president for Greater China. He will also be the general manager of the new manufacturing center. Prior to this new appointment, he was the company's vice president for Business Development and Strategy.
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