Western Digital Continues as World's largest Maker of HDDs

Western Digital managed to snatch the top position as HDD seller from Seagate in the third quarter of this Fiscal year 2010, and it has proudly stepped up in order to announce that it succeeded in keeping it during the fourth. Q4 ended on July 2 and, though it didn't exactly bring in revenues on par with those of WD's arch-rival, it yielded about 4.9 million shipments, which is about 2.9 million more than what Seagate accomplished.

Net income during Q4 was of $265 million, which translates into $1.13 per share, while $27 million were spent on litigations settlements. The $1.13 was smaller than the $1.35 that analysts predicted, but lower demand and increased competition prevented this figure from being reached. On the other hand, revenues totaled $2.4 billion, a significant jump compared to the $1.9 billion of the same period last year.

"Despite softer than anticipated June quarter demand, fiscal year 2010 was another year of significant growth and profitability for Western Digital," said John Coyne, president and chief executive officer. "The long-term demand for low-cost, high-volume storage driven by the proliferation of data and content-hungry consumer and commercial devices remains strong. With our focus on customer needs, quality, low cost, and high asset efficiency in the highest growth markets, we believe WD is well positioned to continue to generate growth on a sustained and profitable basis."

In the June quarter, the company generated $363 million in cash from operations, which brought the total cash and cash equivalents to $2.7 billion. As for the third quarter of FY 2009, HDD shipments amounted to 40.0 million and the reported income and earnings per share were of $196 million and $0.86, respectively. Finally, for the entire FY 2010, WD posted $9.8 billion in revenues and net income of $1.4 billion, or $5.93 per share. This is much more than the $7.5 billion (32% on-year rise) and net income of $470 million or $2.08 per share (194% on-year), of the prior year.