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Verbatim Acquires SmartDisk
Tokyo
— Verbatim and its parent company, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media , announced
the purchase of SmartDisk’s external hard drive and digital imaging
business for an undisclosed price.The acquisition expands Verbatim’s
global footprint in the data storage market beyond its current lines of
optical disc media, magnetic tape and flash products.“The acquisition
of SmartDisk’s external and portable hard drive business assets is
complementary to Verbatim’s existing business,” said Shigenori Otsuka,
president of MKM. “Plans are already underway to leverage these assets
and Verbatim’s heritage to quickly extend our global leadership in the
removable storage and related accessories markets.”In addition to
acquiring SmartDisk technology and patents, Verbatim said in a release
that it will retain “key U.S. engineering, operations, marketing and
sales personnel to smooth the transition and assist with future
business growth.” Verbatim did not disclose if any jobs will be
eliminated.The deal mirrors rival Imation’s recent acquisitions of TDK
and Memorex, which added another broad-line memory supplier to the
global accessories market.The removable storage category has seen
“explosive growth” in recent years, according to IDC. The research firm
predicts more than 6 million external hard drives will be shipped in
2008, up 58 percent from the 3.8 million units shipped in 2006.SmartDisk
had a 16 percent market share in the U.S. retail portable drive market
in 2006, according to data from the NPD Group.“Today’s consumers and
business professionals need the full range of removable and portable
storage options — hard disk, optical and flash,” Otsuka said. “Now, we
can meet all of their storage requirements with a complete family of
highly reliable, technically advanced solutions that are also
cost-effective.”Verbatim also markets computer and imaging accessories
and printing supplies. The brand is distributed in Asia, Australia,
Europe and North and South America.
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