P>Milipitas, Calif. – Maxtor reported today it will purchase Quantum’s hard drive division for $1.3 billion in stock.
If the deal is concluded Maxtor would become the world’s largest hard drive manufacturer, capable of shipping about 50 million drives per year. These are typcially used in PCs and digital video recorders. The deal does not include Quantum’s storage system division, which will continue to operate as a separate entity.
Maxtor and Quantum historically have taken turns claiming to have the largest capacity hard drive on the market. Last week Maxtor continued this by introducing an 80GB 1394 external drive capable of storing 20,000 songs or 80 hours of video. It will start shipping by mid-October with a $279 suggested retail price.
