Maxtor Exits NAS Market

Maxtor yesterday announced it is discontinuing the manufacturing and sales of its MaxAttach branded network attached storage (NAS) products. The company will work with current NAS customers for an orderly wind down of the business, and it will continue to support end-users with installed MaxAttach products under existing contracts.

“Since we entered the network attached storage business in the fall of 1999, the growth rate of this market has fallen far short of expectations,” said Mike Cannon, president and CEO. “Over this same period, the NAS market has become rapidly commoditized by the entrance of a number of global OEMs with their own branded products. This has placed us in competition with some of our largest hard disk drive customers. Exiting the NAS business will allow us to focus on our core hard disk drive markets, further reduce expenses and accelerate Maxtor’s return to profitability.”

Maxtor will take a projected charge in the third quarter of between $75 and $85 million for costs associated with exiting the NAS business.