As the competition in the hard disk drive industry intensifies with newer products and reduced per gigabyte costs, Seagate has entered fresh markets such as video surveillance.  It has launched new products catering to the unique requirements of each of the segments in which it operates: consumer electronics, desktop, automotive, enterprise and surveillance.

Miles ahead of its closest competitor in terms of market share, Seagate now taps into 97 per cent of the total hard drive revenue. Rajesh Khurana, country manager, India and SAARC countries, Seagate, discusses his company’s strategy going forward, with Sigi Achappa of CIOL. Excerpts:  

How does APAC figure in the geographic break-up of revenues? Is the PC still the biggest growth driver for this region?

India is no different when compared to other markets. In addition to new drives for MP3s, DVR, etc, we are also seeing the conventional PC market growing very fast. We must have a balance. The PC market is growing in the C, D and E category towns, with Internet penetration and broadband catching up. The need for accessing information for a person in a non-metro is as good as anybody’s in the metro. It has become a lifestlye issue — all children want a PC. Traditionally, it (demand) was from the metros, but the new growth is from non-metros. So, in India we would look to address the desktop market in addition to the new growth in the consumer and retail markets.

What is Seagate’s strategy to meet the increased demand for storage in smaller devices?
 
We have launched a 12 GB drive for mobile gadgets. We are the first in the industry to launch a recording drive in this segment. The trend we are seeing in growth in aereal density. We just launched a 750 GB drive, which is like a monster space in a 1-inch space. The strategy is to have a technology to produce these drives. This is the major shift in the technology strategy, because the consumer wants more gigabytes in lesser space. We are working on it. Consumer applications require more space—today whatever the GB, it will be consumed in six months’. So, the demand is being driven by new applications. 
 
The cost-per-gigabyte is reducing dramatically. How, much has Seagate’s reduced over the last one year? How much further will it reduce?

Our strategy mode is based on focused investment in platformed research and development-in desktop, enterprise, notebooks and consumer electronics. We will leverage that and design a drive suited for different applications. For example, SV35, we can leverage the work in different technologies for different platforms. We definitely have the lowest cost in Seagate—thereby achieving leadership in all markets.

How is Seagate cashing in on the increased use of disk-based backup?

All kinds of applications are driving demand for our drives. For example, Segate’s potfolio covers 97 per cent of the available market, which use these drives. Example, cameras, desktops, Xboxes, servers, there are eight different vertical markets. The high capacity drives will be used for entry-level servers.

What does the product roadmap look like?

As per our product portfolio, the focus is to increase the areal density. In the next five years, capacity will increase by five times.