Western Digital HDD Thai Production Ramping Up

By Doug Olenick -- TWICE, 1/24/2012

Irvine, Calif. - Western Digital resumed hard-disk-drive slider production at its Thailand facility this week.

The Thai factory had been shut down since Oct. 10 when floodwater caused by monsoon rains stopped production. The company had restarted its Bang-Pa factory in early December.

Western Digital expects its production capacity to reach pre-flood levels by the third quarter of 2012. The flooding has cost Western Digital about $199 million, the company reported.

As the company previously announced, the flooding severely hampered its production. Western Digital shipped 28.5 million hard drives during the quarter, down from 52.2 million shipped during the same period in 2011.

The company also reported its deal to acquire Hitachi Global Storage should close in March. The $4.3 billion cash and stock deal was initiated in March 2011.

In other news, Western Digital releases its second-quarter financial report for the period ending Dec. 30.

The company posted $2 billion in revenue, with a net income of $145 million. This is excluding charges and expenses related to the flooding and the Hitachi acquisition. With those events added in, non-GAAP net income was $358 million.

During the same period in 2011 the company generated $2.5 billion in revenue, with a net income of $225 million.