Fujitsu and TDK have agreed to form a strategic alliance in the magnetic hard disk drive head business. The agreement covers collaboration in drive head technology.
It also covers a joint venture for drive-head manufacture. The companies will launch a new joint venture in the Philippines, where they both have manufacturing operations.
TDK is expected to take a 66 percent stake in the joint venture, and Fujitsu the remaining 34 percent.
Specifically, the drive-head operations at Fujitsu's Philippine subsidiary, Fujitsu Computer Products Corporation of the Philippines, will be combined with TDK's subsidiary, TDK Philippines Corporation (TPC), and TPC will be converted into a joint venture.
Demand for Storage
Demand for hard disk drives is expanding in a variety of sectors, from servers and storage 
systems to consumer electronics, and there are continual needs for hard disk drives with ever-larger memory capacities and higher-performance processing capabilities.
Moreover, with the growing use of hard disk drives in mission-critical applications, top-notch reliability is essential.
The drive head is the key differentiating component essential to meeting customers' requirements for quality, performance and capacity.
Accelerating Product Development
The alliance between Fujitsu and TDK is designed to bring together their respective leading-edge technologies in this field to accelerate product development and delivery, and thereby enhance both companies' businesses.
Fujitsu and TDK are now discussing details of the agreement and expect to sign a definitive agreement in October of this year.
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