14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung Electronics has announced that it has agreed with Hitachi to exchange technology licenses to include their hard-disk drive patents. The deal has been filled with the Korean Exchange, and the agreement with Hitachi covers technology patented by both Hitachi and IBM (as the Japanese electronics conglomerate bought IBM's disk drive operations in 2002 for $2 billion).
Under the new agreement, both companies will be able to share HDD-related patents registered before 2003, as well as future technologies registered until 2011. Samsung made the announcement public, but did not disclose any further details on the licensed patents.
This agreement is supposed to put an end to a long history of lawsuits filled by the companies against each other. Hitachi had sued the largest semiconductor manufacturer in December 2006. Three months later, in March 2007, it was Samsung's turn to fill a lawsuit against Hitachi. According to Samsung spokespersons, the company will drop any lawsuit concerning hard-drive patents against Hitachi, while the latter is expected to do the same.
Samsung manufactures both classic hard-disk drives and NAND flash-based solid-state devices, but, recently, the company has announced the availability of a hybrid storage solution that uses both technologies.
Hitachi is in deep trouble with its hard-disk manufacturing business. Since the company acquired the IBM storage business, Hitachi began losing money. The company estimated this year's operating loss at the hard-disk unit at about $325 million. Recent rumors state that Hitachi is going to sell half of its hard-disk manufacturing units to the investment firm Silver Lake, although the company officials denied having reached an agreement with Silver Lake.
While Samsung is working on a hybrid disk drive, Hitachi has announced a pleasant surprise for the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show to take place in Las Vegas: a 1.5 Terabyte hard-disk drive. If the hard-disk manufacturer manages to deliver it, it would be the second time when Hitachi succeeds in surpassing the technological limit - they have been the first to achieve a 1-Terabyte hard disk drive.