Showa Denko to Secure 5-10% Higher Magnetic Disc Output in 2012

Showa Denko’s president Hideo Ichikawa said at press conference on Wednesday the shipment of magnetic disc for hard disc drive would be around 60 million units in October-December, which is around 20% lower than original plan due to Thai flood damage on the users. The firm improves the productivity targeting monthly 30 million units of production in 2012, which is 5-10% higher than current level. The firm converts all of the production line in the year to make material for 6th generation perpendicular magnetic recording hard disc.

The firm has total monthly 27 million units of magnetic disc making capacity in Chiba, Yamagata, Singapore and Taiwan. The firm planned around 75 million units of production in the high season of October-December. However, the firm started to reduce the production when Thai flood reduced hard disc drive operation.

The firm expects the production cut results in tight supply of hard disc drive worldwide. The firm tries to meet higher demand for the magnetic disc when the demand would increase in 2012. The firm improves the productivity by 5-10% through clearing bottleneck processes and improving the efficiency.

The firm tries to meet demand for 6th generation hard disc with 2.5 inches size and 500-gigabyte capacity. The firm expects the demand shifts to the higher grade disc from current 2.5 inches 320-gigabyte disc.