Storage firm Quantum Corp is hoping to revive its flagging fortunes with the worldwide launch of its latest Fireball desktop hard disk drive, the Fireball EL, which should arrive undamaged at the OEM and thus the end user thanks to Quantum’s new Shock Protection System. The Milpitas, California company says the industry constantly has to deal with disk drive failures caused by the slightest shock to the drive either in transit, or when it is being integrated into a system. Staff are usually highly trained in how to handle a drive, but it is still relatively easy to knock the disk drive against something while removing it from its packaging or installing it into a PC. Dropping the drive just one inch, can cause the head to slap the disk several times, generating particles or, in the case of magnetoresistive heads, thermal asperities. The read element in the magnetoresistive heads heats up if it contacts a small piece of contamination, and this can change the resistance of the film on the head thus distorting the read channel. The Shock Protection System prevents the head from lifting even if some shock is applied to the drive. Quantum director of strategic and technical marketing Ted Deffenbaugh, says the company’s major focus is on quality. One hard disk failure not only costs a PC maker between $300 and $500 to fix once the system is out with a customer, but it is also extremely damaging to the company’s reputation. He believes the Shock Protection System should lead to far fewer returns from either end users or OEMs. The company also claims with Fireball EL to have increased the performance of the Fireball range by around 12%, using a new RISC-based chip in the controller, and new firmware. It also has a 512Kb buffer, which it claims is twice the size of most competing hard drives. The Fireball EL is available with capacity of 2.5Gb, 5.1Gb, 7.6Gb and 10.2Gb, although Deffenbaugh suggests the most popular at present will be the 5.1Gb. Earlier this week Quantum reported fourth quarter profits right down at $2.7m from $87.7m last time on revenue down 17.8% at $1.29bn (CI No 3,397). Like competitors Western Digital Corp and Seagate Technologies Inc, Quantum blames competitive pricing and excess inventories for a big squeeze on margins. Deffenbaugh, who used to work for IBM Corp, acknowledged that IBM’s activity in building drives for sale to the rest of the market, and no longer simply for internal use, was a factor, but he insists that at the low end desktop level, Quantum hardly ever meets IBM. IBM is focusing on the higher end, niche markets, he says. When IBM has overall gross margins of around 40%, and an average disk drive manufacturer makes just 15%, why would IBM want to get too involved in that business? The Fireball EL is available immediately.
