Related News
Western Digital must meet concerns
Source: Bloomberg News |
December 28, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA said Western Digital Corp must address concerns that its proposed acquisition of Hitachi Ltd's storage business will hurt competition before regulators approve the purchase.
Western Digital's acquisition will hurt competition in the market for computer hard-disk drives "to a certain extent," Shang Ming, head of the Ministry of Commerce's antimonopoly bureau, said in Beijing yesterday. The ministry will seek "appropriate solutions" to address its concerns, he said.
"China is the world's biggest computer consumer and so naturally the deal will exert a negative impact on Chinese consumers," Shang said at a briefing held to review the bureau's activity in 2011.
The importance of Chinese approval for acquisitions has increased as economic growth averaging 10 percent in the past three decades transformed the nation into the world's biggest consumer of products including computers, automobiles, and mobile phones.
The ministry said it received 43 percent more antitrust review applications from January to mid-December of this year than it did in 2010.
The ministry is also reviewing Google Inc's acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Shang said.
Western Digital won European Union approval for its purchase of Hitach's unit last month after agreeing to sell off some disk-drive production. The sale of "essential production assets" for 3.5-inch hard disk drives eliminates concerns that Western Digital would only face Seagate Technology Plc as a rival supplier, the European Commission said.
Seagate won EU approval to buy Samsung Electronics Co's computer hard-disk drive operations in October. That purchase, combined with Western Digital's proposed acquisition, would cut the number of large makers of mechanical hard-disk drives for computers to three from five. Western Digital would have a 50 percent share of the market, Seagate 40 percent and Toshiba 10 percent, according to research by IHS Inc's iSuppli.
China approved Seagate's acquisition earlier this month after the ministry and the firms agreed to protect competition, Shang said.
Western Digital's acquisition will hurt competition in the market for computer hard-disk drives "to a certain extent," Shang Ming, head of the Ministry of Commerce's antimonopoly bureau, said in Beijing yesterday. The ministry will seek "appropriate solutions" to address its concerns, he said.
"China is the world's biggest computer consumer and so naturally the deal will exert a negative impact on Chinese consumers," Shang said at a briefing held to review the bureau's activity in 2011.
The importance of Chinese approval for acquisitions has increased as economic growth averaging 10 percent in the past three decades transformed the nation into the world's biggest consumer of products including computers, automobiles, and mobile phones.
The ministry said it received 43 percent more antitrust review applications from January to mid-December of this year than it did in 2010.
The ministry is also reviewing Google Inc's acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Shang said.
Western Digital won European Union approval for its purchase of Hitach's unit last month after agreeing to sell off some disk-drive production. The sale of "essential production assets" for 3.5-inch hard disk drives eliminates concerns that Western Digital would only face Seagate Technology Plc as a rival supplier, the European Commission said.
Seagate won EU approval to buy Samsung Electronics Co's computer hard-disk drive operations in October. That purchase, combined with Western Digital's proposed acquisition, would cut the number of large makers of mechanical hard-disk drives for computers to three from five. Western Digital would have a 50 percent share of the market, Seagate 40 percent and Toshiba 10 percent, according to research by IHS Inc's iSuppli.
China approved Seagate's acquisition earlier this month after the ministry and the firms agreed to protect competition, Shang said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
