Western Digital opts for a spinoff

Article Excerpt

Under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management, Western Digital will now break itself into two separate firms—one will make traditional computer hard drives, and the other will focus on flash memory products. (Manufacturers of mobile phones, digital cameras and other devices use flash chips to retain information without power.) The company originally acquired flash chipmaker SanDisk in 2016 for $19.0 billion as part of a plan to diversify its operations. However, integrating this new business was more difficult than it expected. As well, a deal to merge its flash business to Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. fell through in October 2023 due to the objections of South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix, which is an indirect shareholder of Kioxia. We expect the breakup will ultimately benefit investors. However, demand for computer storage products is highly cyclical, which adds risk. These two new firms face strong competition from larger makers of hard drives and chips such as firms Samsung, Seagate Technologies and Toshiba. WESTERN DIGITAL CORP…