Seagate Technology is one of the largest manufacturers of hard disk drives in the world. There has been some confusion around whether Seagate has been acquired by another company in recent years. In the opening section of this article, we’ll provide quick answers to some key questions around Seagate’s ownership history and current status.
Was Seagate bought by Western Digital? No, Seagate has never been acquired by Western Digital. The two companies remain major competitors in the HDD market.
Was Seagate acquired by Samsung? No, Samsung has never acquired Seagate. However in 2011, Samsung did purchase a major stake in Seagate as part of a strategic partnership.
Is Seagate still an independent public company? Yes, Seagate continues to operate as an independent public company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Its shares trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol STX.
Has Seagate merged with or been acquired by any company? No, Seagate has not undergone a merger or acquisition by another company. It remains independent.
So in summary – Seagate Technology has not been bought out by any competitor or merged with another business. It operates today as an independent public company.
History of Seagate
Seagate Technology was founded in 1979 by Alan Shugart and Finis Conner under the original name Shugart Technology. The company was initially focused on developing 5.25 inch HDDs for the emerging microcomputer market.
Early Years and Growth
In the early 1980s, Seagate experienced rapid growth and became a major supplier of HDDs for microcomputers made by companies like Apple and IBM. It also partnered with companies like Microsoft to develop HDDs for their systems.
Seagate launched their first 10MB 3.5 inch HDD, the ST-506, in 1980. This product and its capacities marked a major inflection point in the growth of microcomputers with built-in storage.
Under the leadership of CEO Stephen J. Luczo in the 1990s, Seagate began expanding into other markets beyond microcomputers and began selling more HDDs for servers and workstations. They also focused heavily on mergers and acquisitions to accelerate growth.
Going Public and Continued Growth
In 2002, Seagate spun off its Veritas software subsidiary as an independent business so it could focus entirely on storage hardware.
Later that year, Seagate conducted its initial public offering with shares starting trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol SEG. This offered new capital for continued growth and acquisitions.
In the 2000’s Seagate made several major acquisitions including:
– 2001 – Acquires HDD operations from Japan’s Sony Corp
– 2005 – Acquires rival HDD maker Maxtor in $1.9 billion deal
– 2006 – Acquires the HDD business of EMC’s Storage Systems Division
These acquisitions significantly expanded Seagate’s market share and manufacturing capabilities.
Recent Events
More recently, the following major events have occurred in Seagate’s history:
– 2011 – Samsung makes a major investment in Seagate, acquiring 9.6% ownership stake. The two companies agree to a broad strategic partnership for research, development and manufacturing of HDDs.
– 2014 – Seagate completes acquisition of cloud storage company Xyratex for $374 million. This expands their capabilities in enterprise data storage systems.
– 2018 – Seagate again becomes an independent company after Samsung sells back its ownership stake, citing decreased synergies.
– 2021 – Seagate demonstrates first HDD with 50TB capacity, showing it continues to innovate and increase storage density.
So in summary, while Seagate has made some strategic partnerships and acquisitions over the years, it remains an independent public company not owned by any competitor. It continues to be a leader in HDD technology.
Seagate Company Overview
Seagate is a leading provider of data storage solutions across a wide range of markets. Here are some key facts about the Seagate business today:
Headquarters
– Dublin, Ireland (incorporated in Ireland with main administrative HQ)
– Cupertino, California, United States (where CEO and many executives are based)
Employees
– Approx 42,000 worldwide (as of 2022 annual report)
Manufacturing
– Primary HDD manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
– Also has operations/partnerships in USA, Northern Ireland, and Japan among others.
Financials
– Market Cap: $18.43 billion (as of Nov 2022)
– Annual Revenue 2021: $11.7 billion
– Net Income 2021: $1.5 billion
Products
– Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) – Main product focus, offered for wide range of storage applications and markets
– Solid State Drives (SSDs) – Smaller part of business, but growing area
– Storage Systems – Complete storage subsystems for cloud, enterprise, and edge markets
So in summary, Seagate remains a large independent public company, focused on being a leading mass storage provider using HDD, SSD, and complete storage system solutions.
Ownership and Management
As an independent public company, Seagate has many institutional and retail shareholders. Here is a summary of the company’s current ownership structure and executive leadership team:
Ownership Breakdown
– 77% institutional shareholders – Major investors like Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors
– 18% insider/executive ownership – Executives and board members
– 5% retail shareholders
Executive Leadership Team
– Dave Mosley, CEO
– Gianluca Romano, CFO
– Ravi Naik, Chief Information Officer
– Jeffrey Nygaard, President Operations & Technology
– Philip Brace, President Storage Products & Solutions
Seagate has a 9 member Board of Directors led by Chairman Stephen Luczo.
So while many major institutions hold large stakes, Seagate’s management and strategic direction is controlled by its executive leadership team under CEO Dave Mosley and the Board of Directors.
Competitive Positioning
Seagate maintains a strong competitive position in the HDD market and data storage industry overall:
HDD Market
Seagate and Western Digital control over 80% of the HDD market. Seagate competitors in HDDs include:
– Western Digital – Major competitor in HDDs and SSDs
– Toshiba – Key competitor from Japan with about 17% HDD market share
– Others – Smaller players like Hitachi and Samsung have limited market share
SSD Market
In SSDs, Seagate has a smaller share compared to leaders like Samsung, Intel, and Micron. But Seagate is investing to improve its SSD capabilities and grow market share.
Storage Systems
In complete storage systems for enterprise/cloud, Seagate competes with Dell, HPE, NetApp and other players. The company is leveraging partnerships to enhance its offerings in this market.
Key Advantages
Seagate’s key competitive advantages include:
– Low-cost manufacturer – Has high-volume manufacturing optimized for HDD production costs
– Technology leadership – Significant R&D investments to stay ahead in storage density and performance
– Strategic partnerships – Key partnerships (e.g. with Huawei) to enhance capabilities and reach
So while facing competition, Seagate retains a solid market position in HDDs and is investing to grow its presence in SSDs and enterprise storage systems.
Financial Performance and Outlook
Despite maturity in the HDD market, Seagate has maintained a strong financial profile. Here is an overview of their recent financial performance and outlook:
Revenue Breakdown
Below is a breakdown of Seagate revenue by product category over the last 3 fiscal years which end in June:
| Revenue ($M) | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDDs | $7,496 | $6,746 | $7,966 |
| SSDs | $1,890 | $2,033 | $2,013 |
| Storage Systems | $701 | $624 | $1,099 |
| Other | $695 | $486 | $572 |
| Total | $10,782 | $9,889 | $11,650 |
HDDs remain the dominant source of revenue, but Seagate is diversifying more into SSDs and complete storage systems.
Profitability
Despite revenue declines in 2020 due to COVID-19 and supply chain constraints, Seagate maintained solid profitability:
– Gross Margin 2020: 27%
– Net Income 2020: $1.1 billion
– Net Income 2021: $1.5 billion
For 2022 and beyond, Seagate is projected to maintain Gross Margin above 30% and healthy Net Income exceeding $1 billion annually.
Growth Outlook
Seagate expects overall data storage demand to grow well over the next decade. Key growth outlook factors:
– Data growth from big data, cloud, IoT continues to drive storage demand
– High-capacity 20+ terabyte HDDs and enterprise SSDs lead product growth
– Seagate aims to be a leader in next-gen technologies like Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) and Multi-Actuator drives to offer breakthrough capacity
Seagate aims to achieve moderate but healthy revenue growth in the 3-5% range annually over the next 5 years.
So despite HDD market maturity, Seagate is positioned to leverage data growth trends and maintain strong financial performance going forward as a leading data storage provider.
Conclusion
In summary, Seagate Technology remains an independent public company and has not been acquired by any competitor or external company. It maintains a leading market share in hard disk drives and is investing to grow its presence in SSDs and enterprise storage systems. As data storage demand increases globally, Seagate is poised to continue its leadership in mass capacity storage solutions for customers. The company aims to drive moderate revenue growth through technology innovation and partnerships, while delivering healthy profitability. While facing competition, Seagate’s scale, manufacturing efficiency, and technology leadership give it a strong foundation to thrive as a standalone company in the data storage sector.